It's a Funny Thing, Really
by MudbloodPride
Summary: In a world where Loki didn't go back to Asgard at the end of Thor: The Dark World, a young woman finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of events she never imagined in her wildest dreams, and, the most irritating, obnoxious and heart-breakingly beautiful man she has ever seen. She would kiss the man if she didn't feel like throttling him. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

**HI THERE :D Okay. Before you go any further, read this.** This story is slightly AU. Pretend that Loki never made it back to Asgard at the end of Thor: the Dark World, pretend that the Avengers timeline is a little screwed up and take in stride a whole bunch of weird crap that will happen later on.

Yep, I think that's all you have to keep in mind...

Well. Um. Okay, just read it, I'll see you at the bottom.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Sometimes I think the universe really is out to get me. I mean if you think about it, it was all the fault of the convergence that I ended up the way I am. That day I thought the universe was giving me a break, what with the good fortune I had by not running into anything unexpected while making this trip to England. Things were going fairly well, and by fairly well I mean I still had a house to live in, back home. Okay, so it doesn't exactly heat itself but you know, at least I'm not homeless.

I stepped out of the building and breathed in the cold air. Greenwich was so different from New York. Relatively quieter. Relatively neater. I inhaled another lungful of fresh air, pleased at how clean it smelled in comparison to the streets of the empire state. This may also be because my nose was numb. Oh well.

On the other side of the street the lake shimmered in the weak sunlight. So pretty. My mother would have liked this. I felt a twinge of sadness as I thought about her, with her dark, waist length hair and chocolate brown eyes, how she smelled like lavender and cinnamon, and made the best apple crumble pie ever.

"I miss you Mum," I whispered, "This trip is for you." It was her dream to travel the world, not mine. The furthest my dreams went were to settle for a high paying job in New York. I come from a small town in the States, where I had lived all my life with my mother. My dad left when I was three. I don't know why, and frankly, I don't care. My mum was my everything and I was hers. Being pregnant at eighteen, and then a single parent at twenty-two, life was always tough for her. In spite of all that, we managed damn well. When I got into college in California she was so proud, I kid you not, she burst into tears and then made baked goods like a maniac for five hours straight.

"We'll celebrate after you graduate Louie," she told me the day I left, "We'll go on that trip around the world we always wanted to go on, just you and me."

"Ma," I laughed, "trips around the world don't exactly come cheap." She waved her hand airily. Did I mention she was the dreamer and I was the practical one?

"I have some money put away. If we keep adding to that nest egg, we'll be able to go someday."

Four years later, I completed my degree in English, acing my classes and faithfully saving as much money as I could for our nest egg. We didn't expect to save much; it was an unrealistic, foolish dream, but it was what kept us close over the distance. Whenever she phoned we would end up chatting for hours on end about this far-fetched trip.

Then, two days after graduation she phoned me, and I could tell from how calm she was being that something was very, very wrong.

"Hey Mum," I said cheerily, hoping I was just being paranoid, "I'm taking the flight at three on Friday okay?"

"Louie," her voice shook a little. My stomach twisted.

"Mum what's wrong?" she made a little choking sound before clearing her throat and continuing in a whisper. "Louie honey, I've- I've got cancer."

"Mum…"

"Yeah I know, I know… Breast cancer to be specific. I knew these things were a bother." She laughed a little breathlessly.

"I'm coming home today." She didn't even argue. All I heard was a small "okay."

I hung up, sat on the floor and cried for an hour before going online and booking the next flight home. She refused treatment after the nest egg depleted on just one round of chemotherapy. So, two years later, here I was in Greenwich, honoring my mother's last wish and burying her ashes at her birthplace. I could feel myself getting sucked into that pit of depression just thinking about it. Shaking my head a bit I tried to clear my thoughts and compose myself. I was not going to start crying in the middle of the pavement. I did my duty. I was going to enjoy the rest of my stay as best as I could and then go home and start a new life.

Pulling myself together, I crossed the road, and that was when I saw it. For a second there I couldn't figure out what it was. First the air above the lake shimmered and rippled and then all of a sudden, a ship materialized. Out of thin air. In broad daylight. What. The. Fuck. I mean really, a _spaceship? _In _Greenwich_? What tourist comes across that?

Several people screamed. The spaceship was moving fast and moving straight towards the green courtyard that the buildings surrounded. It didn't look like it was going to stop.

"RUN!" someone hollered. I stumbled backward, stunned. Was this a normal occurrence in England? I watched as it barreled straight through the concrete and tarmac as if it barely existed. And I realized I was sort of in its path. Shit.

Time stood still and the noise in the background reduced to a dull roar. I was going to die. A spaceship was going to crush me and I was going to die like an ant under a boot.

Well, I thought dryly, that's an ungainly way to go. Here's me accepting my fate. Like Harry Potter I shall welcome Death with open arms. I braced myself for the impact and my inevitable demise. Except I didn't die because someone with grabbed me and dragged me out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing?!" my savior yelled in my face, her hair blowing in the wind as she pulled me to safety. Oh, another American. Though unlike me she seemed to know what she was doing. Following her was a tall, lanky young man with an armful of tech-y looking poles.

"I – I wasn't-"

But the young man cut me off. "Darcy! We're running out of time!"

"Right!" Darcy dropped my arm, which she had been holding with a vice like grip and sprinted off, yelling over her shoulder, "Don't hang around, I won't be there to save your ass again!"

"Right," I mumbled. Good advice. I should probably run now.

It took me all of ten seconds to launch myself onto the road and start running as far away as I possibly could from the giant, obviously hostile, alien space thing. The screaming and shouting was getting louder and I could've sworn I heard shooting. Overhead, two fighter planes flew towards the ship. Turning around, I power-walked backwards, stumbling over rubble and once (oh, God) a foot. Slowly, I glanced around. The scene that greeted me was one of absolute disaster. People running, screaming, glass shattered, broken buildings, police cars with their sirens blasting, ambulances... I looked to the sky and my jaw dropped open.

Sweet baby _Jesus_. It was a fucking _tornado_ up there. Complete chaos engulfed the area, and once in a while there was a crack and lightning would strike the ground, somewhere near the ship. I wouldn't know where exactly; the buildings were blocking my view. Over to the left, a new disturbance was taking place in the sky. Clouds were parting in the air, forming perfect circular holes in the thick, red smog. The two planes I saw earlier fired missiles but to no avail. They were sucked in to the, well, _portals_, like dust bunnies to a vacuum cleaner.

Then, when I thought it couldn't get any worse, a car fell out of thin air, three feet in front of me. With a shriek I jumped backwards, throwing up my hands against the shower of glass.

"Bloody hell!" I screamed to no one in particular, "what in _God's_ name-!"

It was then that I, being the graceful being I am, tripped and fell backwards. Suddenly the whole world seemed to tilt on its axis, and everything went black.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Pain. Pain was the driving force in him. The poison in the wound was spreading fast. Thor's face swam in and out of focus and Loki struggled to concentrate on what he was saying. Faintly, he heard his brother's words.

"I'll tell Father what you did here today." If he could have snorted he would have. He struggled to form words.

"I didn't do it for him." Loki gasped and stilled as everything went black, a deafening roar rising in his ears.

Pain. So much pain. Loki could feel himself beginning to panic. No. No, no, _no_. He was a_ God_. He was born with a _purpose_ and that _purpose_ was _not_ to die alone in a barren wasteland.

Pull yourself together, you fool, he silently told himself, it is not time to die just yet.

Motivating as these thoughts were, Loki was still unable to move. The poison made his entire body feel like it was on fire and he groaned. Everything was still dark, still loud, and still painful. His stomach hurt, badly, and soon he went spiraling down to the dark, blissful silence that comes with passing out.

He reckoned he must have been unconscious for a while and when he came to again, the pain had reduced considerably. The black was fading away and the wasteland was slowly appearing before his eyes. He could make out the shapes of fallen ships and bodies strewn across the dusty ground. Gods. How was he going to get out of this?

Groaning, he sat up and examined the wound carefully. Hm. Well, something was off. It took him a moment or two to figure it out.

_Ah_. He was blue.

"Interesting," he murmured softly. In his weakened state his body had reverted to its natural state. Chastising himself for taking so long to figure it out – really, did Thor hit him on the head with Mjolnir or something? – he tried his best to peer at the wound in his stomach. The pain now came directly from the gaping hole, only worsening when he moved. It was an intense pain, yes, but it seemed that the poison had just… disappeared. How strange. Was it his Jotun form doing this? Experimentally he reverted to his Asgardian form and then gasped as the pain doubled. Alright then, he was going to have to remain as a Jotun for a while. His nose wrinkled in distaste. What a way to add insult to injury.

Once he was blue again he lay back, breathing hard. The smallest amount of magic weakened him so much. He tried to collect his thoughts. He couldn't stay here forever. Firstly it was a wasteland. Anyone or anything he came across was very likely hostile. Secondly, it was not like the place had any sort of food or water to offer. He would either be killed or die of starvation. So, he had to leave, to another realm, and soon.

But how? Heimdall? Heimdall was probably distracted at the moment. Besides, if Thor had made it back to Asgard alive he would have told everyone that Loki was dead by now. Heimdall wouldn't be on the lookout. He could wait for a patrol to be sent from Asgard but Loki wasn't sure how long he had been out for. There was a chance that the scouts had already been to the Dark World and left with only news of a body to report. Besides, going home, even like this, meant days and days of trials and courts and Loki wasn't sure he could face Odin after the loss of Frigga. The gap between them would only increase further. Loki knew Frigga was the reason Odin had dealt him life-long imprisonment and not death. Without her presence, it was unlikely he would be treated very well.

So how was he going to escape?

Think, fool, he snarled to himself. You escaped the clutches of Thanos - not very well, but nevertheless escaped. A wasteland shouldn't be too hard.

Lifting his hand to brush hair from his forehead her noticed it was slick with blood. Ah. So the first order of business was healing. In his Jotun form it seemed to occur much faster. If he found shelter he could stay, rest, and once he had enough strength to summon his magic, continue the healing process himself. So all he had to do now was to find shelter.

Too tired to sit up again, he rolled his head, searching for a cave, a cavern, even a mere crevice in which to rest. He was in luck. There, out in the hills from which they tumbled down in their pseudo-fight, Loki noticed several caverns. Surely they were safe. He stood, groaning loudly at the pain. For the thousandth time in two years he was thankful he wasn't some weak Midgardian. Slowly he shuffled forwards, picking up a staff along the way. It was a weapon, he assured his bruised ego, not an aide that he required to hobble along.

Oh, the dignity of a fallen king, he thought dryly.

Picking a cave at random, he entered slowly and finding it thankfully empty, lowered his aching body to the ground. After a few adjustments and a very weak illusion, he was fairly sure that while he was able to see the outside, no outsider could see him. Closing his eyes he sighed, suddenly so tired of it all. All the illusions, the lies, the trickery.

He thought back to the battle and wondered if Thor had succeeded in defeating Malekith. How long had he been out for? It felt like days, but common sense told him it could only have been a few hours, if the bodies strewn out there were anything to go by.

He supposed Mother really would have been proud of him today. Loki still felt a twinge of anger at not being able to attend her funeral. Thor's mortal woman had been present, but he, he who loved her the most had been sitting in the dungeons, completely unaware of what was happening until it was far too late. He stared up at the jagged ceiling as something wet trickled down his face and into his hair. He could have helped. He could have saved her. Angrily he scrubbed away the tears. Tears would not bring her back. Nothing would.

A low rumbling, followed by a terrific thud disturbed his thoughts. Startled, he raised himself slightly. Out in the distance a new body lay, faintly stirring. There was no mistaking that long, white blond braid. Malekith. With a growl he made to rise; it did not matter that a hole had been ripped through his insides, he would kill Malekith or die trying. He'd only just sat up, however, when with another rumble, the Elves' ship materialized out of thin air. In slow motion it fell, creaking and groaning and shuddering, crushing Malekith under it. Well.

A startled laugh escaped Loki's lips. There was no way the Elf could have survived that. What an ungainly way to die. He chuckled darkly. Nothing more than what the bastard deserved. And yet, he was probably going to die here too, alone and friendless. He would be lucky if it was a fast, painless death like Malekith's. The thought sobered him up fairly quickly.

Alone and friendless. Not that he had many friends to begin with, but the thought that he had been about to die in his brothers arms had, at that moment been a strangely comforting one. It made facing the inevitable seem easier. Ugh. He was picking up all this sentimental rubbish from his brother. Stupid oaf. He felt an uncomfortable twitch at the insult he made and then an even more uncomfortable one when he realized his mind had not automatically denied any relation to the god of thunder. He was accepting Thor as a brother. Dear _Gods_. He felt like bashing his head against a rock.

Yet, he couldn't help but dwell on conversations of the past. Words from what seemed like eons ago echoed in his mind.

_"We played together, fought together."_

_"You come home."_

_"I wish I could trust you."_

Bitterly he turned his head to the inside of the cave. Perhaps Thor really would see to it that he had died honorably. An oaf his brother may be, but Loki couldn't deny that his heart was in the right place. Probably one of the few reasons he would make a good king.

Glowering, he picked at his wound. It seemed to have healed almost halfway already. His Jotun form really did heal faster. Maybe it was because he wasn't exerting any energy in holding up an illusion. He filed this information away for future use and let his eyes wander over the interior of the cave. Dark and dank, it seemed to lead on in the form of a tunnel. This made him slightly nervous. Tunnels existed only if something dug them out. He hoped he wouldn't find out exactly what.

He heaved a sigh. The minutes ticked by slowly, and he counted the seconds when he got bored. Rock, rock, rock, more rock, lots more rock…wait. What was that? Was that – he raised his head, blinking. Was that a _shoe_?

Ignoring his body which screamed in protest, he got up and shuffled towards it. A shoe. A Midgardian shoe. He examined it, bemused. How could a shoe from earth have ended up here, in the Dark World? Unless… his grip on the shoe tightened and his eyes widened as he made his way further into the tunnel. More and more shoes and the odd Midgardian object littered the ground. If his hunch was correct… Experimentally he lobbed the shoe a good ten feet out and held his breath. It sailed through the air and then, disappeared.

He grinned.

* * *

**A/N:** Et voila!

Okay, now for the proper Author's note. This is the first story I've published, so... well... a little review or two might be nice. :P

See, I get real bored, real fast, but if I know someone out there is willing to read, I just might be motivated to actually see this through to the end :')

So yeah. Let me know if you like it, let me know if I should continue or not. :3 the second and third chappies are already done, but I'm too anxious to post them unless I get a little positive feedback ehehe.

Constructive criticism only, okay? Go easy on the first timer.

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Much Love,

Until next time,

xo


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Hello hello hello :D New readers, welcome. Old readers, welcome back to another chapter! :D

To be honest, I want to get on with the boring details and move to the Loki - OC fluff stuff, but I also feel the need to give this story an actual plot, so... yeah... :P

This chapter was, frankly, rather annoying to write. I feel like the words didn't quite flow. It's late and maybe I've seen it far too many times, but it's making less and less sense so I thought I'd post it fast, before I ended up changing the entire story xD

To the reviewers:

**TheIronBat: **I'm as honoured that you're my first reviewer as I am about being your 100th :3 I hope you like this one!

**Dragon of Ying and Yang**: Thank you for your support, I hope this makes you happyy :D

**Guest**: Thank you :D

Many thanks to the ones who followed and favourited this, I hope I do justice to this story :) okay then, on with the show!

**A/N EDIT-11/3/2014: before I go any further, I corrected some mistakes in this chapter, which kind of irked me when I came back and re-read it. Don't worry, it was only some grammar mistakes. I am a perfectionist so I just had to correct it. :P Chapter three will be up soon lovies! Stick around :)**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Louie POV**

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a whole lot of white light. I groaned. My body ached and I felt unbearably sleepy and weak. Blinking once or twice, I tried to get rid of the haze. A face swam in and out of focus.

"I'm dead aren't I?" I croaked. There was a chuckle.

"Not quite, dear. Though I have to admit, you may have come quite close."

I blinked again, trying to clear my vision. A plump, smiling nurse came into view. The tag on her blouse read Amanda Walters. She took my pulse and then fiddled with a button on the IV hooked into my arm. I looked around the pristine, white room. The only furniture other than the bed was a single chair. I rubbed my face tiredly. Okay, so I was in a hospital. What the hell happened to me?

Amanda Walters seemed to read the question in my gaze and gave me a gentle smile.

"Can you tell me your name?"

"Louise Montgomery."

"Can you remember what happened, love?"

I frowned then stopped because it hurt my head. The nurse pressed a glass of water into my hand. Taking a sip, I tried to remember.

"I… I was walking backwards; running away from the ship - _thing_ \- and I fell, I think, and blacked out." My voice trailed away and I looked down at myself. One leg was bound tightly in bandages, and there were cuts and bruises on my arms. Amanda nodded sympathetically.

"You must have, yes. You're lucky you didn't get a concussion. In fact, you just got away with a bad sprain and a few cuts. Oh yes, compared to the rest of them, you're very lucky." She smoothed out my bedspread. The gesture reminded me of my mom, who would do the exact same thing.

"What," I hesitated and licked my lips. "Can you tell me exactly what happened?"

Amanda's smile was fainter this time; the tight lines around her eyes quite visible. "It was another alien incident, dear." I raised my eyebrows.

"Aliens? Like the ones in New York last year?" The nurse nodded. I leaned back. Christ. The world was getting wackier by the day.

"You're American aren't you?" I nodded and answered her unspoken question.

"I was in Greenwich on… holiday. My flight home leaves next week. Or at least, it was next week before I blacked out."

"You were unconscious for a couple of days. The hospital sent out teams to rescue people. Your reports say that you were found approximately three hours after the ship disappeared and Thor left."

"Thor? Thor was here?"

"Oh yes, waving his hammer about and everything." Amanda collected up her tray of utensils and reports. "So, by what you're saying, your flight was supposed to leave on Sunday, yes?" I nod in affirmation.

"I suppose you'll be out of here in no time. Like I said before, you're one of the lucky ones." She gave me a pat on the cheek and picked up her things and left. Settling back into the pillows, I watched as the saline drip-dripped down the tube, each drop measured and perfectly spaced apart. I breathed gently to the rhythm, and in no time at all, I was asleep.

* * *

It was two weeks later that the trouble really started. I settled into the small, dingy apartment for which I had to pay way more than it was worth but what the hell, it was close to my waitressing job and almost in the centre of the city. I applied for a proper job to several places, but so far I hadn't received a single letter requesting an interview. It was really demotivating. I guess a degree in English didn't really get you far. I decided I was going to keep trying for another couple of months. Just a little longer in this rat-hole, and if I got nowhere, I would go back home and apply for a teaching job at the local high school. I would lead a proper life. Maybe meet someone. I snorted. How dull. But the way it was going, dull was where it was all heading.

One evening I returned home from work, tired and cranky; really, some customers could be so _rude_. Sighing I ran myself a bath. Fortunately the hot water was working that day, so a few minutes later I lowered myself into warm water with a sigh of contentment. Closing my eyes, I let the water work its magic on my sore limbs. Believe you me; waitressing is not a piece of cake. Some of the more ungainly jobs at the café were bestowed upon me, the new recruit. This involved lugging bags of flour and potatoes into the bakery, and the much heavier garbage bags out. It was better than most part time jobs though, but I don't think I'm very good at it. I tend to have a lot of bad luck; dropping bottles, slacking off, reading books on the job, mixing up orders. Robert, my manager, tells me my heart is not in the job. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from snapping that the only reason I was so unfocused was because I stayed up till late writing articles, poems and the sort, to send off to publishers on an almost daily basis. Okay, so maybe what I said earlier wasn't quite true. I did have some dreams. To be a writer, now that would be pretty cool. Not that I had had any luck in that area either.

A good hour later, I was almost completely rejuvenated and decided to take my latest novel and read on the rooftop. It was only a five floor building so it was completely dwarfed by most others, but it was better than nothing. Settling on the ground, my back against the wall, I sipped my water, intending to bury myself in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. Before long though, my thoughts started drifting as usual back to the battle at Greenwich and what had happened to me there. There was still a gaping hole in my memory, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

I had blacked out, about that I was quite sure, but something didn't feel quite right about the whole escapade. I don't remember hitting my head or receiving a blow to it in order to black out. The doctors at the hospital told me there was absolutely nothing wrong with my head; I didn't even have a bump or a bruise. If I didn't know better, I'd say I blacked out in midair.

I stretched my foot experimentally, rotating it. The sprain had healed surprisingly fast; by the time I stepped out of the airplane and back into the city of New York, it barely hurt at all. Tapping thoughtfully on my water bottle, I went back to Holmes. I had read this book once before when I was little and I vaguely remembered whodunit. Boo. I just managed to spoil a book for myself on my very own. Disappointed, I put the offending thing aside and continued tap tapping away, now humming the bars to "Valerie".

The water in my bottle made ripples as I tapped.

_Well sometimes I go out, by myself, and I look across the water_

I closed my eyes, practically seeing the words form in my head. My fingers tapped away. I loved this song. It was my mother's favourite. She and I would sing it all the time. I wouldn't say I'm an incredible singer, but Mom, she was the best. Together, we always sounded fantastic. My chest felt tight when I thought of how we wouldn't be able to do that anymore.

"Won't you come on home…"

The bottle felt strangely light in my hands and I cracked an eye open. My breath caught in my throat and the words died on my lips. The water in the bottle was floating; floating in big globules inside the clear plastic as if the bottle was a lava lamp. I blinked and immediately the water fell back, sloshing around. I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding and shuddered. My heartbeat was suddenly very loud in my ears.

Why- why had the law of gravity just been defied in a little plastic container? Was I dreaming? I pinched myself. Ow, okay no, not dreaming. Was I seeing things? My eyes widened. Oh, God, maybe I was. Maybe I _did_ get hit on the head in Greenwich.

I looked at the water again. It lay innocently at the bottom of the bottle, gently swaying as I moved my hands. I glared at it suspiciously for a few moments before taking a deep breath and calming down a bit.

"It's nothing. You were probably seeing things, Louie," I told myself sternly. "A lot of weird crap has happened lately, you shouldn't be surprised one or two weird things would happen again." Honestly, after aliens and spaceships, a little hallucination should be quite normal.

But weird things didn't stop happening around me. Two days after the water bottle incident I was at Central Park when I ran into a bunch of school kids. A very haggard looking school teacher was accompanying them, reprimanding and chiding them gently as they all gathered around a large elm, the noise level steadily increasing as they pointed up at the branches, talking among themselves. Curiousity got the better of me and I moved over to see what the fuss was about. Then I spotted it, a smear of bright yellow and red, against the cool green leaves. A kite.

Why they were thinking of flying a kite on a day there was barely a breeze I could not fathom but as I watched them, I couldn't help but think that if a gust of wind blew through the branches_ just right, _it might just fall out. I had barely finished forming the thought in my head when there was a sudden whooshing sound and with a burst of wind, the kite fluttered to the ground. Jaw dropping open, I hurried away amidst the cheers and whoops of joy of the kids. An uneasy feeling crept into me. What the hell was going on?

Then, a week after that, I was lugging a bag of compost up to the rooftop on Mrs. Walter's request. Mrs. Walters was a sweet old lady who lived in the apartment across the hall from mine, and only two things in her life mattered the most to her: mollycoddling anyone younger than the age of twenty-five by inviting them to tea on a weekly basis (read: yours truly) and her miniature rooftop garden. Because I was bribed with many chocolate chip cookies and a slice of apple tart, I was more than happy to help out by promising to carry it up and store it. Of course, that was before I saw the size of the bag.

It was as big as two sacks of cement and by god it was _heavy. _By the time I had made it to the second floor landing I was sweating profusely and swearing colourfully enough to make any sailor wince. By the time I arrived onto the third floor, I was ready to give up for the day and come back tomorrow. My arms ached, and I was losing my grip. So naturally, halfway up the next flight of stairs, I dropped the blasted thing and watched in a fascinated sort of horror as it went spilling out onto the carpet with a soft rustle. Oops.

I flipped out completely of course, thankful that neither Mrs. Walters nor the landlord had seen what I had done to their respective precious property. The soil would take _ages_ to clean up, and oh God, if it _stained_ – Then, before my eyes, the soil was hovering a good inch above the carpet. My mind went blank with shock. _Not again. _The soil started spinning like a tornado had caught it up and zoomed up the staircase. I took the stairs two at a time, chasing it down. The compost tornado made its way to Mrs. Walters' front door where it promptly exploded, showering the entire landing with soil. I groaned.

Forget uneasiness, now I was simply fucking terrified. I was positive now, about what exactly it was causing all these strange incidents. It was me. I was doing this, and whatever the hell it was, it was happening more and more often and I had no idea how to control it.

* * *

**Fury POV**

Nick Fury was having a good day. He hadn't been woken up at some godforsaken hour due to some sort of emergency or the other and so far nothing had exploded, accidentally or otherwise. The Helicarrier was fixed, the Dark Elves incident in Greenwich finally closed with nothing further to report and the Avengers Initiative was going quite well. He prided himself in the results of that last one. No-one expected the superhero bunch to be able to actually get along, but once again, they had amazed everyone, be it anyone from S.H.I.E.L.D or the rest of the world. They were a surprisingly good team.

Speaking of said team, Fury decided it was time to check in on them. He usually did it once a month or so in a – _ahem_ – unofficial manner. Looking through his information reports and tabs he discovered they were all in Stark tower. Oh, how convenient. Discreetly he tapped into the building's surveillance system, surveying all for around ten seconds – any longer and Tony's AI would be alerted of his presence.

He noted that Barton and Romanoff were lounging on opposite ends of a sofa, the former flipping through TV channels while the latter flipped through a magazine. His lip curled at their poor attempt of hiding their almost violent game of footsie. Stark was at the bar, sipping a martini - really Tony, at nine in the morning? – an arm slung around Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. Banner was down in the labs, scribbling furiously in one of the ten books open in front of him. Rogers was, predictably, in the gym. Fury snorted. Three days since he had returned from wherever the hell he had been on that motorcycle of his and he was already back in the gym. Why were all his agents not like this man?

Thor was, of course in Asgard, with Jane Foster. He had said he had matters to attend to there. Fury let him go without being too precise about the debriefing of the Greenwich battle; losing his mother and brother had taken quite the toll on the usually cheerful God. (Fury couldn't exactly say he was sorry for his loss though. Loki was much less trouble dead). Thor was expected to return tomorrow, and so far, all seemed well with this superhero boy-band. Oh yes, Fury was definitely having a good day.

He should've known it wouldn't last.

His communicator chirped and he pressed a button.

"Agent Hill," he said, leaning back in his seat and sipping his coffee. "I'm glad you called, I'd like you to get me the files on Romanoff and Barton as soon as –"

"Sir," Hill interrupted, sounding worried. "We have a bit of a situation." Fury frowned and waited for her to elaborate.

"We were updating the list of wanted criminals, Sir, and as usual we were running a final check before moving records over to the 'Deceased' section. And then –," Hill broke off for a second and Fury heard her murmur to someone in the background. "Matthew! You're one hundred percent sure it's not a system malfunction? _One hundred percent sure?" - _And then - "_Dammit_!"

Fury drummed his fingers on the table top impatiently. "Talk to me, Agent. What's going on?"

"Sir, we have a 72 percent match on the facial recognition system, of –," she broke off again and another background voice rose, panicky and loud.

"I thought he was dead! The Director told us –"

"Maria!" barked Fury "a 72 percent match of whom?"

"Of – of Loki, Sir." Suddenly, his coffee seemed too bitter for him to swallow.

* * *

**A/N: **So that happened. :P

K, let me know what you think okayyy ;3

Readers, do keep in mind it's a slightly AU story. Plotlines from Captain America, the Iron Man Sequels, etc, etc, may or may not apply according to my liking :p Also, I should mention, I do NOT live in America and so my geography is absolute crap. If I got anything wrong, do let me know.

OH. Darn I forgot the Disclaimer. **I OWN NOTHING YOU RECOGNISE. NOTHING. HABSOLUTELY NOTHING.**

KTHANKSBYEEEEEE!

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Hello hello :) Sorry for the wait, it's been a crazy week. This is supposed to be the stuff I do to relax, haha.

Anyway, hope you liike :) See you at the bottom.

**TheIronBat:** Thank you so much! You don't know how much your words encourage me :) I'm truly grateful. Hope you like this :)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Tony's lips brushed against Pepper's hair and he inhaled the light, sweet smell of her shampoo.

"Sir," Jarvis' cool British accent cut through his trance-like state.

"Hmm?" He twiddled a strawberry blond lock of hair in between his fingers. Pepper batted his hand away. "You better have a good reason to have interrupted, Jarvis."

"Director Fury is attempting to contact you, Sir. Shall I put him through?"

"No," said Tony at the same time that Clint, Natasha and Pepper said "Yes."

"Outvoted, Tony," Pepper smirked. Tony hated it when Director Fury called. He was always bored to tears. "Jarvis, put him through to the conference room."

"Certainly, Miss Potts,' said Jarvis. Tony pouted.

"I should also tell you, Sir that a blocked third party tapped into the system a few moments before the call came through. It stayed on for approximately eight seconds before disappearing."

"That would be Fury," said Tony rolling his eyes.

"Would you like me to set up the necessary firewalls, Sir?"

"Don't bother, Jarvis. Let him think he's still under the radar, the nosy bastard. You two," he pointed a threatening finger at the two assassins on his sofa, "keep your mouths shut." He glared to emphasise his point.

Natasha frowned and opened her mouth to retaliate but Clint interrupted. "Let's go see what Fury wants, shall we?"

"Right." Tony gave Pepper one last kiss and headed for the elevator. "Jarvis, tell Steve and Bruce to meet us at the conference room."

"Yes, Sir." Pepper gave them a parting wave as the elevator doors closed.

Humming, she twiddled her thumbs for a couple of seconds, her eyes flicking now and then to the elevator doors. After a minute or two, she rolled her eyes.

"I'll go nuts if I stay here wondering what they're up to. Jarvis, tell Tony I went out."

"Yes, Miss Potts. Should I get a car ready?"

"No, that's fine, Jarvis. I'm going to the usual place. I'll walk."

"Very well, Miss Potts. Have a good day."

* * *

**Louie POV**

I retied my hair into a ponytail, pulling the strands back harshly. I know it made my hair resemble the tail of a broomstick but really, I could not care less. Lunch was always the insanely busy hour.

I wiped down the counter, served the couple by the window seat and then ducked into the kitchen for a breather. I really needed to look for a better job. The past few weeks had put me on edge; my nerves were frazzled and I was clumsier and quieter than usual.

"Montgomery!" I jumped as Robert barked my name. "This is the third time I've caught you day-dreaming. Pull yourself together and go serve the lady at table four. She's one of your regulars." Nodding, I straightened my skirt and walked out. I knew who Robert was talking about. Table Four was one of the tables outside the bakery, yet in a secluded corner. The woman seated at the table was wearing a large pair of sunglasses that covered half her face and her hair was tucked into a large, wide brimmed hat.

She was tapping away on an expensive piece of Stark tech when I approached. She looked up and smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Hello. You want the usual?" I asked politely. She was a proper regular. She always sat at table Four, always wore big sunglasses and a hat and always tapped away on a piece of Stark tech. She never spoke to anyone else, and since I always served her (it was two weeks ago that she first started coming to the café) she never had the need to. However, she was really nice; even if I dropped the order in her lap (yes that happened) she wouldn't complain to Robert. So it's safe to say I liked her a lot.

"Oh, well, just a coffee would be fine," she started before pausing before adding, "oh, a chocolate muffin too, I guess." I grinned and wrote it down. The usual then. Heading back to the counter, I put a muffin and a mug of coffee on a tray along with a single packet of sugar. She accepted it with murmured thanks and tipped her hat even lower over her face.

I was momentarily distracted when a toddler who was fussing in his high chair knocked a glass of water to the ground with his flailing limbs. I hurried over to help, cooing to the baby and murmuring words of comfort to the poor mother at the same time. Another server came over with a dustpan and broom and after I made sure there were no shards remaining I returned to table Four to retrieve my notebook.

"You have very nice handwriting," said the lady conversationally as I reached for the little book. I dipped my head shyly.

"Thanks. I got a lot of practice."

"Waitressing?" she asked, taking off her sunglasses and giving me a view of sparkling blue eyes. Suddenly, she looked oddly familiar. I shook my head.

"No ma'am. I wrote a lot of essays in college. Did an English degree."

"In that case, what's a smart girl like you doing waitressing for?" I flushed, a little embarrassed.

"I'm applying for jobs. I just haven't found anything yet. Recession and all." She must have sensed my discomfort because she smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry if I came off as nosy. I'm just a very inquisitive person"

"It's fine," I grinned, then hesitated before asking, "Do I know you?"

She looked at me oddly and smiled. "You're not from around here, are you?" I shook my head. Oh, lord. Was she someone important? I racked my brain frantically. She didn't seem to mind me not knowing her.

"I'm Virginia, she said, sticking her hand out.

"Louie." She had a firm handshake.

"I know."

"You do?"

"It's on your nametag."

"Oh."

She laughed.

"Am I supposed to know you?" I asked bluntly, "it's just that you're right, I'm not from around here. I came to Manhattan a few weeks ago."

"Well, personally, I think it's a relief to be around you. It's quite refreshing not to be hounded by random strangers who know who you are," she said, putting her sunglasses back on.

Hmm. Was she a celebrity, then? My knowledge of such thing was minimal so I had no way of knowing. I shrugged. In this city, I would find out eventually enough.

"Montgomery!" A voice barked and we both jumped. I noticed that Virginia's coffee had vibrated slightly even though neither of us had done anything to disturb it. Crap.

"Montgomery," Robert was glared at me. In a sickly sweet voice he reminded me, "We have other customers to serve, Montgomery. Get on with it, please."

"Yessir," I said and scurried back into the kitchen. I'd lost count of the number of times Robert had told me off. It was so embarrassing.

For the rest of the day I stayed in the kitchen, hiding from Robert and choosing to do the other odd jobs. Once, when I dared to venture out of the kitchen, Virginia was gone. The day passed by achingly slowly and when closing time drew near, I was exhausted. A headache was building up and I had already nicked my palm when washing up the knives. The flood of customers had thinned down into a slow trickle and except for me; the only employees left were the cashier, Robert and one other server.

"Montgomery," Robert beckoned to me from his office. "A word, please."  
I sat in the chair in front of his desk. I knew what was coming. It wasn't the first time it had happened.

"Montgomery," he sighed. "That was the third time I had to tell you off today alone. You know it's not the first time this has happened. Two tables went unattended because you were chatting with your friend out there. Do you realize how bad that is for business?"

I cast my eyes downward, ashamed. "I'm sorry, sir."

"Sorry doesn't really cut it, Montgomery."

I nodded miserably. "I know."

"Then you'll understand when I say I'm going to have to let you go." I froze.

"W-what?" Robert looked at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry, kid. But with the recession going on I can't afford to keep this many people around. Someone's gotta go." He passed me an envelope.

"Two months wages," he said, nodding to it. I picked it up slowly. So that was it? Apparently it was.

"Okay then." I said quietly and rose to leave. "Thanks for... this." Robert nodded, looking a little embarrassed. I walked out of the office, my throat tight. Taking off my apron I hung it on the back of the kitchen door before grabbing my purse and coat and hurrying out the door. It was getting darker, and it looked like it was about to rain. My head was pounding like someone was playing five aside football in there.

Someone honked their car horn and I winced.

"Can you not be quieter?" I snapped in the direction of the offending vehicle.  
It drew up alongside me as I walked. It was an old fashioned, beat up, rusty looking thing. Around five or six young men were in it, their music cranked up high and cigarettes dangling from their hands. The driver noticed me looking. He had sunglasses on even though the clouds were so thick it was a miracle that light was filtering through and a snake tattoo on his forearm.

"The hell are you looking at?" He asked roughly. I narrowed my eyes. Big mistake. Snake gritted his teeth and swung over onto the curb, barely missing a shiny limousine as it did so. All five of them hopped out, Snake at the head.

"Did you hear me?" he leered, "what the fuck are you looking at?"

I clenched my fists and shook my head. "Nothing."

"It didn't seem like nothing, sweetheart," said Snake, moving in so close I could _smell_ something illegal on his breath.

"Maybe she likes what she sees," said one of the others and all of them laughed.

"Is that right, darling," murmured Snake, grinning away.

I glared. "No."

I took a step back and started walking away quickly. I shouldn't have turned my back on them. I hadn't gotten two steps further when a hand clamped onto my shoulder and spun me around.

"That was rude, darling," snapped Snake, his eyes gleaming. I was suddenly aware of how the wind was blowing hard, picking away strands of hair from my ponytail. _Shit_. I had to get away. Snake pulled me closer. I lashed out, fists connecting with his face and neck and made a run for it.

"You little _shit_!" Their car revved and honked.

"Oh crap," I moaned, throwing a glance backward. Where would I go, where would I go? I turned into the next alley I could find, my bag slapping against my ribcage. There was a screech of tyres and several doors slammed. Horrified I threw a glance backwards. They were following me. There should be a worse swear word for moments like these.

I ran faster, breathing heavily now; I was never much of an athlete. They were still following; I could hear the insults and curses being thrown at my back. I took a right, then a left, another left, hoping to throw them off. A right, and another and - fuck. I skidded to a halt, gasping and clutching a stitch in my side. Dead end.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," I whimpered through clenched teeth. Why was I so_ stupid_? _Why_ did I duck into the alley, _why_ did I hit Snake, _why _did I stare? The sound of pounding feet announced their arrival. I swallowed thickly.

Snake came around the corner first. He skidded to a halt and stared at me, a grin spreading across his face. I did not like the look of that grin.

"Well, well, well," he cooed, strolling forward casually. He got right up in my face again, as I backed up against the wall. I held my breath and stared blankly. His hand twisted into my ponytail and held it tightly. I clenched my teeth against the pain.

"Sweetheart," he said drawing a cigarette out, "you really shouldn't be so rude." Someone passed him a lighter. He pulled on his joint deeply and blew the smoke into my face. Coughing I turned away, scalp pulling as I did so. Jamming the cigarette in between his teeth, he slammed me against the wall.

"Let me _go_, you son of a -!" With a single hand he grabbed both of my wrists and held them above my head.

"Shut up, you little bitch," he snarled brandishing the cigarette in my face, "or I'll burn your eyes out." I froze.

"Let me go," I said trying to hide the tremor in my voice. "Let me go and I won't report you to the police." He laughed.

"Oh, sweetheart, you won't be reporting anything to anyone. I have big plans for you," he whispered in my ear, his cigarette so close to my cheek I could feel the heat off the glowing tip.

"And once I'm done, I'm sure all my friends would like a turn too." The grip on my wrists tightened further and his lips crashed onto mine.

It all happened very suddenly after that; everything became a big blur. I do remember though, that the cigarette in Snake's hand went up in flames. And by up, I mean _up_ up. Like, flames six feet in the air, up. Snake jumped back with a yell.

"What the _fuck_!"

I felt so dizzy, so very dizzy. I stumbled. Then, someone was shaking me by the shoulders.

"You little freak, that was you wasn't it? You're one of those mutants, aren't you?" Everything was spinning and I whimpered.

"Oh god, no, what have I done, what did I do, I'm not a freak, I'm not, _I'm not_-"

The last thing I heard before everything went dark was the faint cry of someone calling my name.

* * *

**Pepper POV**

Pepper sipped her coffee, feeling slightly guilty and a little thrilled. Thrilled because here she was, Pepper Potts, CEO of stark industries, Tony Stark's girlfriend, sipping coffee at an ordinary bakery. No mess, no press. And not for the first time either. It was a luxury she couldn't usually afford because she was always so busy, but as of late she had always found half an hour or so which she used to come to this bakery.

Nobody recognised her in her super disguise. Her sunglasses were so large they sometimes slipped off her nose and her trademark strawberry blonde hair was tucked into a large hat. Good lord, if she had known it was this easy she would have done this ages ago. Even the waitress, Louie, hadn't recognised her, after serving her for three weeks straight. Then again, reasoned Pepper, the girl was new to the city; no wonder she didn't recognise the famous Pepper Potts. Pepper felt extremely pleased at her good fortune and wondered how long it would last. Maybe she could convince Louie to keep her secret…

This brought her back to the cause of her guilty conscience. The poor girl had gotten into trouble with the manager because she stopped to chat with Pepper for so long. Pepper hoped that she was okay.

She seemed like a sweet person with definitely more brains than what was required for a simple waitressing job. Tony would have teased Pepper ten times over by now for being such a Good Samaritan.  
As if the damned man had known he was thinking about her, her phone rang out in that obnoxious ringtone he had programmed especially for himself. She made a mental note to remind Jarvis to change that.

"Hey," she smiled into her mug, "So which one was it? Did you sneak away or throw a hissy fit?"

"Not… quite… the meeting isn't over yet." Tony sounded rather worried. "Pep, where are you?"

"At this bakery, near the Tower. What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing serious-" he broke off for a second and there was some low murmuring in the background.

"Tony?"

"Pep, I gotta go," said Tony, "just stay away from Central Park, okay? I've sent Happy to get you, _don't_ go anywhere without him."

"Okay, but Tony, what-" she cut off as the dial tone sounded. Huffing in frustration, she threw the phone into her bag, chewing her lip worriedly.  
Happy came for her ten minutes later and after she grilled him for any information possible on what was happening (he gave away nothing) she decided to do distract herself by doing some grocery shopping. She might as well; with Thor coming tomorrow and bringing Jane and her assistant, Darcy, Stark Tower would be housing a lot of people soon.

She spent practically the entire day shopping, for all sorts of things. Tony had programmed Jarvis to be able to connect to her phone, and between the AI and herself, a manic shopaholic was born. Maybe they did go a little overboard with food and toiletries but hey, Thor and Steve ate enough for ten people. It would be perfectly fine.

They were nearing Stark Tower once more when suddenly, Happy jerked to a halt.

"Happy?" Usually he was such a careful driver.

"Joyriders," grunted Happy.

Pepper frowned out the window, looking out for the said careless drivers. Honestly, the people on the roads these days. Oh, that must be them, with the girl. They really were a motley looking bunch. They crowded around the girl, ugly smiles on their faces. Pepper's eyes slid over the young woman and her mouth opened in surprise.

"Louie?" She rolled down the window. Suddenly, Louie jerked forward and started running. Swearing and shouting, the men started to chase her.

"Happy," she said sharply, "stop the car and come with me."

"What - Miss Potts -" But Pepper had already hit the pavement and was chasing the men down into an alley.

_Goddam_ her high heels to the depths of hell. Pepper sped up as much as she could without falling over. Damn, she could barely keep up with their sharp turns. Heavy footfalls behind her told her that the bodyguard-chauffer was on her tail. Suddenly there was a yell.

"LET ME _GO_, YOU SON OF A -"

Pepper inhaled sharply. "Louie."

Cautiously, she crept forward. Looking at Happy, she raised an eyebrow. "Think you can handle a bunch of idiots who are very likely drunk and high?"

With a stoic face, Happy laid a hand on the gun at his hip and nodded. Nodding back, Pepper peered around the corner. There was a nasty laugh; one man had the waitress pressed up against the wall, her wrists held above her head in one of his hands, while the other waved a cigarette under her nose. He bent and whispered something in her ear.

"Now," said Pepper. Happy strode out into the open, gun cocked but before he could say or do anything, Pepper saw Louie's eyes flash a brilliant white and the cigarette in the man's hand burst into flames, lighting up like the tail end of a rocket and shooting flames high into the air.

The man was shaking the waitress by the shoulders, screaming into her face.

"You little _bitch_, are you a mutant freak?"

"Louie!" cried Pepper. The others turned, looking for means of escape when Happy stepped forward.

"Don't even think about it." Held at gunpoint, all five men froze and raised their hands to their heads. The cigarette was still ablaze, an enormous fire crackling from the tiny, rolled up joint. Louie dropped to the ground, clutching her head. Pepper ran forward and cradled her in her arms. The young woman was mumbling and shivering

"Oh god, I'm not a freak, I'm not, I'm not-"

"Shh, honey," Pepper whispered soothingly. "It's okay, you're okay." She looked at Happy.  
He nodded. He looked at the men.

"I'll deal with you later." He said coolly. "For now, scram." They scrammed. Happy looked at Pepper.

"What do we do with her?"

Pepper thought fast. The girl obviously had abilities she was not in control of. If they let her into a police station or a hospital, a panic attack might bring the place down. If she wasn't shunned like all mutants were - Pepper had heard the stories - she had only a few places left to go to for help, SHIELD being one of them and Pepper wasn't sure she wanted Louie to turn into another Maria Hill or Natasha Romanoff. So, the only logical conclusion would be-

"We take her to Stark Tower."

* * *

**A/N: **Question: Should this chapter have a trigger warning? Let me know if you think so :/ I apologize if, in my ignorance, I upset someone by not posting a trigger warning at the beginning of the chapter. Let me know and I will immediately post one.

Hmm, other than that, whadduya think? :D Next chapter is going to be rather interesting, I believe. Our two main characters will finally meet! If I'm not mistaken with the word count, there's a chance of a meeting between two other people too ;) Any guesses?

Please, do leave a review, they make me so happy. Oh, please. Oh, pretty please. *makes puppy dog eyes.*

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Look at me, updating unusually fast. Yeah, you should know my update times are going to be all over the place, at least until the end of this year. So apparently my word count was incorrect and the second meeting of two important people that I was talking about will happen in the next chapter :/ Sowwy.

Okay, so I think this chapter is a leetle short, but I tried very hard to fix all the grammar. Did I succeed? Well that is the question isn't it? *laughs heartily and stops suddenly*

Before we get on with it, the disclaimer. Nothing you recognize is mine.

Now, for the replies to reviews :D

**TheIronBat:** Haha I knoww, Louie is having such a crap day and I feel awful for putting her through such hardship. Hopefully things will get better for her soon ;) Thank you for the revieww, it's so very nice to get reviews, isn't it? I totally understand why Authors crave for them so. Enjoy!

**Guest: **Guest! Oh, Guest! If only I knew your penname :( Here, O Fabulous One, more has been given to you! Enjoy! :D and let me know what you think :3

**literaturelife7: **Hello :D I'm glad you like the story :3 Yeah, switching points of view gives me greater freedom. It's also very effective because I want to try and give more insight into _everyone's _thoughts and feelings and not just a single person's. I hope you like this chapter! :D

Many thanks to the ones who are following and have favourited this story! It gives me the happy feels :')

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Tony POV**

Tony Stark was bemused and that was not a feeling he was accustomed to feeling. He was bemused, a little confused, and a whole lot amused at the entire damned situation. Therefore he and his bad rhyming decided to have a drink.

They were back from their fun little trip to Central Park. He leaned back in his chair idly. Steve was seated on his immediate left, back stiff and eyes narrowed. Bruce was seated on the sofa, eyes flitting nervously to Clint who, Tony could tell, was practically pissing himself in restrained fury. Natasha had a hand placed placatingly on his shoulder but unlike the rest of them, was standing.  
Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. Thor was a whole lot more fun than this bunch.

Speaking of the god of thunder, now, Tony may have been a little inebriated when Thor had come down to Manhattan for a debriefing on that little episode in Greenwich, but he was pretty sure he had informed them of the death of his mother and brother. If that was so then why, _why_ was said brother now coolly seated in front of him, sipping a glass of wine? Tony looked around, wondering who would break the silence first. Would it be Steve? It would probably be Steve. Natasha was too good at the whole poker-face-silent-spy thing. Or maybe it would be Clint. Although the way it was going, it was more likely that Clint would just tackle Loki then and there. Tony suddenly had a vivid mental image of the archer letting out a Tarzan-like yell and tackling the god across the coffee table.

"So, let me get this straight," said Steve and Tony practically giggled. "You say you almost died and then found a - a portal back to Earth."

Loki inclined his head slightly in affirmation, although he was starting to look slightly impatient at Steve's disbelief. Tony didn't blame him. The god had, after all, just explained what had happened to him from the moment Thor had broken him out of jail, even changing his form into something that closely resembled Jake Sully from Avatar to prove his point. Tony knew Bruce was itching to find out more about _that_ little display of talent. As a matter of fact, so was he.

"That was almost three weeks ago," said Natasha, "what were you doing for so long?"

"Healing," replied Loki setting down his wineglass. "It was a near fatal wound. It took a while."

"How did you get to Central Park?" asked Tony.

"I teleported." It was as if he was making an effort not to add _obviously_. Right.

"Why here?" asked Bruce. "You don't exactly have happy memories of this area."

"I was..." Loki winced, "I needed to find someone to assist me in getting to another realm. There is a high concentration of magic in this area. I thought, perhaps, a very strong force, or a being with special abilities resided in this city. Aside from you, of course."

Clint snorted, folding his arms and glaring. "I don't trust you, or anything you say."

"I don't expect you to, Agent Barton," said Loki quietly, looking away. Tony blinked and exchanged a surprised glance with Steve. Were his ears deceiving him or had the god of mischief sounded... remorseful? What had happened to Loki this past year for him to turn into this sad, fallen man?

"Well," Tony sipped his own drink, "we'll just keep you here until tomorrow and let Thor deal with you." Loki blanched. Tony was surprised the man could actually get any paler.

"I do not -," the god suddenly paused, cocking his head. Eyes widening, he rose, hands forming fists. The Avengers immediately went into protective stances, standing and readying themselves for any sudden attacks.

Loki didn't even seem to notice. He narrowed his eyes at the elevator. "Something is coming."

"Jarvis," said Tony quietly, "who is it?"

"Miss Potts," replied the AI, "accompanied by Mr. Hogan and a third unknown individual-"  
The elevator dinged and a panicked Pepper stepped out.

"Tony!" she cried, "Oh, thank god, Bruce-," she hurried out, Happy following.

"What is that?" Loki asked sharply. Pepper didn't seem to hear.

"Happy, lay her down on the sofa - Bruce - I think you should take a look at her -"

Curious, Tony moved forward with Bruce, to see exactly what it was that was gracing his sofa. It was a young woman, in her early twenties or so, Tony guessed. She had thick, wavy black hair and looked very pale under her fading tan. She was muttering and shaking, beads of sweat gathering at her forehead.

"Who is she?" asked Tony.

"What happened?" asked Bruce at the same time.

"Louie," Pepper sat on the edge of the sofa and stroked her forehead. "She's a waitress. Happy and I saw a bunch of guys chase her down and corner her in an alleyway. One of them had her pinned to the wall and everything…" Steve clenched his fists in anger. Even Tony frowned.

"-And then, Tony, I don't know how she did it, the guy was waving a cigarette in her face and then her eyes flashed white and Tony, _the cigarette went up in flames_."

A silence greeted her words.

"Up in flames?" said Natasha disbelievingly. Pepper nodded.

"Yes, I-" she stopped talking as the bottles in the bar started to shake, the liquid inside sloshing around. On the table, the same thing was happening to the glasses, the wine lapping against the edges and coming dangerously close to spilling. A strong breeze was in the air. The hairs on the back of Tony's neck prickled.

"You feel that wind?" he asked in a low voice. The others nodded.

"There can't be any wind in here," he said looking around, "all the windows are closed, and Jarvis controls the heating and air conditioning inside the building-"

"It's her," said Loki. He came forward cautiously, hands raised in an 'I come in peace' gesture. Pepper's eyes widened as she finally noticed the God and Bruce stood protectively in between them.

"I can help," snapped Loki.

"We don't need your help-," started Clint but the rest was cut off by a gasp from Louie. Her eyes opened, her back arched and she shook violently. Her eyes, her entire eyes were a pure, bright, glowing white. Loki stepped forward, ducking around Bruce and touched her cheek. The wind howled around them; several bottles crashed to the ground.

"My bottles!" moaned Tony.

"Hush," said Loki softly. He closed his eyes and cradled Louie's head. Quickly, he murmured a few words under his breath and almost immediately the wind died down, the water stilled. Louie stopped jerking around and fell back. Loki caught her and laid her down, her head now resting on Pepper's lap.

Kneeling beside her on the floor, Loki's palms glowed green as they hovered over Louie's unconscious form. Clint shifted beside Tony, ready to move forward and pull the Asgardian away. Tony flung an arm out to stop him.

"Wait," he murmured to the angry agent. Clint glared at him.

"If he's hurting her-"

"It _is_ her," interrupted Loki sounding shocked.

"What?" more than one person asked.

"The high concentration of magic I was speaking of earlier. I believe it comes from _her_."  
There was a beat of silence and then everyone started talking at once.

"We should tell Fury," piped up Natasha, "SHIELD should know about this-"

"Not yet," said Tony. He paced back and forth, thinking hard. His eyes met Bruce's and he knew the doctor knew what he was thinking. He glanced at Pepper. Her eyes seemed to be saying the same thing. "Not yet."

"Tony, we can't wait," said Natasha impatiently, "you saw what the girl did, and she was _unconscious_ when she did it. She might be a threat-"

"Please, Dominatrix, she's harmless," said Tony flippantly. "I say we let her rest for the night and wait until we hand Loki over to Thor. We can deal with this tomorrow" Loki glared, but said nothing.

"But-"

"Let's take a vote," interrupted Pepper, "those in favour of waiting, say I."

Tony's hand shot into the air, followed by Pepper, Bruce and Happy. Tony smirked.

"Outvoted then, you guys. We wait. Bruce," he added quietly as Steve picked up Louie and carried her to one of the guest rooms, "meet me down in the labs. There are some things we need to get ready for."

Bruce eyed him. "Louie and Loki aren't test subjects for your mad plans, Doctor Frankenstein."

"Oh, come on," hissed Tony gleefully, "like _you're_ not dying to find out how Reindeer Games turns blue."

Bruce shook his head. "You really are crazy."

Tony shrugged and danced into the elevator. He had a feeling things were about to get very, very interesting.

* * *

**Loki POV**

The next morning Loki paced his bedroom in a state of nervous agitation. He hadn't slept at all the previous night, partly thinking of the girl and partly in anticipation of Thor's arrival.

Thor.

Sighing, he sat on his bed and ran his hands through his hair. Thor was going to kill him for not contacting him immediately. Not that he had had a choice; he had been exhausted when he had arrived in Midgard, taking almost three days to simply sit and heal. Dark magic was a nasty sort of business. Absentmindedly, he let his fingers trail over his stomach. Underneath his armor a faint scar was still present, surrounded by a purple-black bruise that might not ever fade.

Nevertheless, Thor would still be very, _very_ angry. Loki remembered the last time they had met after the entirety of Asgard had thought him dead. The God of Thunder had been _furious_. People would have said that it was due to his attempts to steal the Tesseract but Loki knew what had hurt Thor the most was how he had survived and stayed away.

_"Did you mourn?"_

_"We all did"_

Loki shivered. What in the world was wrong with him?

There was a knock at the door. Rising, he opened it to Agent Romanoff. Arms folded, she stared at him blankly. He mimicked the pose.

"Yes?"

"I was told to bring you down for breakfast. Come on." Loki sneered.

"And what if I do not wish to have breakfast?"

"Then I'll cuff you and drag you down the hallway. It's either that or you walk. You pick."

"Afraid I might run, Agent?" He was not a fool. He knew Stark's computer had been monitoring him all night and that his windows were sealed shut. Romanoff cocked her head.

"Yes, actually. Now are you coming or what? Louie is awake too." That piqued Loki's interest. So the girl was better was she? Interesting. Romanoff had already turned and was walking away. He hurried to catch up. They entered the elevator and arrived at the floor with the kitchens. Already, everyone else was there, except for Banner.

"Reindeer Games!" said Tony Stark cheerfully, "Come join us!" Loki didn't miss the way Romanoff frowned at Stark's overly friendly gesture. Behind the counter, Pepper Potts was preparing breakfast with the assistance of Rogers. Stark was sitting at the counter, sipping from a large mug. He looked quite tired. Barton was at one of the sofas located at one end of the room, shoveling food into his mouth and alternating between glaring daggers at Loki and watching a large television screen.

However, what caught Loki's attention was the young woman seated at the counter - Louie. He had felt her presence even before he walked into the room. She was sitting two seats away from Stark, her head bowed, a long, messy mane of raven hair covering her face. Pepper kept shooting worried glances at her.

Ignoring Barton and his death glare, Loki walked to the counter. Stark patted the stool next to him.

"Sit," he said. Loki sat. Out of the corner of his eye he observed Louie. Her eyes were red; she had been crying. Her hair was unkempt and tangled and her attempts at combing through it with her fingers of no use at all. She hadn't noticed Loki just yet.

"Louie." Pepper pushed a plate of steaming food towards her. Louie looked up at her and smiled.

"Thanks," she said softly. Loki could still feel the magic emanating from her in gentle waves. With every move she made, the air practically rippled with soft power. It was like a tangible aura and felt oddly pleasant. Involuntarily he relaxed. Until of course, Louie turned and noticed him. Her eyes widened.

"You." Loki swallowed, suddenly nervous.

"I am Loki, of Asgard..."

"I know who you are," she interrupted, frowning, "everyone in this city does." Loki inclined his head in agreement. It slightly annoyed him that this human had simply interrupted when he was speaking; really it was quite a common occurrence in this godforsaken land.

Louie stared at him, her eyes narrowed, cool and calculating. Loki's back stiffened in discomfort. A human was making him uncomfortable. Lovely. Her gaze moved from the top of his head to his feet, before they flicked to his eyes, brown meeting green. They were quite an interesting pair of eyes, Loki realised with surprise. A simple chocolate brown in colour, but as they moved in the light, chocolate changed to russet, and the strands of a wonderful burgundy tone shone through. More than that however, was the intelligence within those eyes. Loki felt like he had been laid bare under a spotlight as she fixed her gaze on him. He found himself unable to look away.

Brown orbs flashed and for a moment, Loki thought she was going to hit him. She wanted to, he could tell; he could feel the energy radiating off her. However, her expression softened.

"I'm sorry about your mother," she said softly. Loki opened his mouth to retaliate.

"She's not my-," breaking off, Loki blinked. Oh, what was the use in pretending? "Thank you," he said quietly.

She nodded and directed her attention to her food, not looking at him once again.  
Steve coughed.

"Maybe we should fill Loki in on what we were talking about earlier."

"Can we really trust him though?" asked Romanoff. "I still don't think it's the best course of action…"

"No, it isn't," said Tony rising and stretching, "But he's her best chance, if what happened yesterday is anything to go by."

"When is Thor arriving?" asked Barton.

"Sometime today." Stark shot a glance at Loki before clapping his hands together.

"Okay, here's the deal Loki. Louie has a bit of a problem and you fixed it. Louie needs to figure out what the hell is happening to her, and you might be able to help. This kind of magic thing is your forte after all."

"And in return for this, what do I receive?" asked Loki. Stark stared at him for a moment.

"Are you kidding me? We can just tell all your Asgardian pals to lock you up again and disregard any leniency that they might give you for helping Thor." Stark folded his arms.

"Come on Reindeer Games, we know you need all the help you can get to get out of all this shit in one piece. Help us, and we'll put in a good word for you." Loki scowled. It _was_ true. A good word from the Earth's Mightiest Heroes would go a long way… Perhaps even buy him time to escape. Hmm… He nodded shortly.

"Perhaps I could be of assistance."

"Good," said Steve, who was watching him closely.

"Goodie," said Tony happily, "We've never had a pet project like this before."

"Wonderful," mumbled Louie, "I'm an experiment." She didn't seem too unhappy about it though. If anything, Loki thought she looked relieved at the idea that they were not going to turn her out into the streets.

"I still think we should tell Fury," said Romanoff.

"Oh come on, Natasha," pouted Tony, "He'll find out soon enough. We can train her on our own. It'll be fun." Louie looked at Pepper in astonishment.

"What am I, a puppy?" The tension in the room was lessening; even Barton chuckled at that one. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Apparently, you are."

"She shall be my Louie, and she shall be mine, and I will love her and feed her…."

_Humans_, thought Loki, his nose wrinkled in distaste.

* * *

**A/N: **Ehehehhehe. Well, I hope you liked that one, lol. Writing like a smartass is something I enjoy, but I have no idea if I'm actually funny enough to pull off that snarky kind of humor. :P Oh well.

By the way, I updated early due to one rather specific reason: exams. *wails* There might be a delay closer to the end of November. :/

I will try my very best to update on time though, as long as it doesn't distract me from my studies. Well, doesn't distract me _too_ much. xD

Leave a review and let me know what you think, please! Please? Pleeeassee. Yes, I'm shamelessly begging. Indulge me why don't you :3

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time my friends!

Much love,

xo


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:**

*peeps into the website*

*looks left*

*looks right*

DIDYOUMISSME?DIDYOUMISSME?DIDYOUMISSME? DIDYOUMISSME?DIDYOUMISSME?DIDYOUMISSME?

(Guess what reference that is and I'll give you a prize)

Why, hello there my lovely readers :D I hope you haven't given up on me just yet; I have big, big plans for this story. Funny story, really, I made up my mind to restart editing two days ago and BAM, after WEEKS of silence from FFnet, I get a notification about a new follower and a new review! IT WAS A SIGN I'M SURE OF IT. So here we go, the next chapter. Apologies for the looong wait. The final stretch until the end of the year always packs my schedule to the brim. Thankfully, this story is very stress relieving to write and I enjoy every minute of writing it. Well, maybe not the editing bit. :') So, replies to reviews up next, and after that, Chapter Faiiiiive :D

**TheIronBat: **You flatter me so much, stahhpp. By stop I mean, "Oh,_ do_ continue." Haha :3 I'm so glad Tony's POV was a success, he was so much fun to write! And yess, you're right, this chapter is very much Louie and whatever that happens inside her head. I hope you like this chappie and I look forward to reading a new chapter of your own story as well :D

**literaturelife7: **Yeah, Loki may be the Queen of Tantrum throwing, but hey, aren't all little siblings the same? I'm so glad I pulled off writing snarky Tony; he's easily the most fun to write. I dunno if there's much humor in this chapter, but let's see how it goes :3 Thanks so much, I hope you did your exams well too :D

**Queen Martha Pond: **Thanks so much for the review! It really motivated me to get this out super fast. I hope you liiiike, and stick around to see where this goes :D

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers. I'm just playing in the gigantic sandbox Marvel created.**

* * *

**Chapter 5**

**Louie POV**

I've had weird days but this one, I think, tops them all. That is why instead of sitting in my dingy apartment with a bunch of books, I was sitting on a table in Tony Stark's lab, letting one Doctor Bruce Banner examine me.

I woke up this morning in a strange bed with a pounding headache and the familiar feeling of disoriented confusion about my surroundings.

"You're awake!" said a cheerful voice on my left. It sounded oddly familiar. I groaned and sat up.

"Virginia?" My eyes widened.

"Where am I?" Before Virginia could reply, there was the sound of footsteps and a head popped in the doorway.

"Is she up?" Virginia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Tony, she's up, not that you didn't already know that. I swear to god, when I find those dammed cameras..." She muttered the last bit under her breath. Tony beamed. The rest of him appeared and he walked forward. I took in his appearance, blinking slightly. He was wearing a fitted t-shirt and pants, both expensive and both covered in liberal amounts of grease and dirt. Nevertheless, his face was quite attractive, really, his eyes bright and calculating. A blue circle of light glowed brightly on his chest.

"Hello," I said. Tony held out his hand.

"Tony Stark, I'm sure you already know, billionaire, genius, philanthropist, owner of Stark Industries, playboy-"

"Not anymore," interjected Virginia, her eyes narrowing playfully.

"He likes to feed his ego," she explained to me, "even if it means using that line _in front of his girlfriend_." She glared at Tony who winked at me. I looked from him, to Virginia, to him again. Tony Stark – Iron Man - Stark Industries - girlfriend- suddenly everything clicked into place.

"Oh my God," I said in horror, "you're Pepper Potts." Virginia - of_ course_, no wonder she looked so familiar, her face was only plastered on the front of every magazine on the planet - grinned at me sheepishly.

"You got me."

"I can't believe I didn't recognize you," My voice came out muffled because I stuffed my face into the blankets in embarrassment.

"A heinous crime," said Tony solemnly. Pepper jabbed him with an elbow. I gazed at them blinking rapidly. The famous Tony Stark and Pepper Potts, New York's dynamite duo.

"I'm feeling a little star struck right now," I whispered.

"Sir," came a cool British accent out of nowhere. "Doctor Banner is looking for you. He is currently in the labs."

"Tell him I'll be right down," said Tony. He pinched my cheek. "Good to meet you, Louie. I'll see you in a bit." Swooping down, he gave Pepper a very long kiss - I blushed and looked down at my lap - and strode out of the room.

Pepper cleared her throat, looking a little pink in the face.

"That was Jarvis," she said, pointing at the ceiling. I assumed she was referring to the voice that had come from nowhere. "He runs the place." She gave me a smile.

"There are some clothes laid out for you in the bathroom. I'll leave you to get changed. If you come to the elevator once you're ready, Jarvis will bring you down to the kitchens for breakfast."

"Wait," I said. "What happened to me?" Pepper tilted her head, as if wondering whether to tell me or not. It made me sit up a little straighter. Whatever it was, I could handle it. I stared right back, silently demanding whatever she had to say. Apparently she got the message.

"What do you remember?" she asked at last.

"The cigarette going up in flames," I replied bluntly. No sense in beating around the bush. Pepper smoothed out the bedspread. Slowly but clearly, she began to speak. I listened silently and nodded when I thought I should. Later, when I was alone, I allowed the tears to escape.

I stared at my pale face in the bathroom mirror, toothbrush in hand. Quickly, I brushed my teeth and pulled on the flannel shorts and ACDC t-shirt left for me. I ignored my puffy eyes and my hair which now resembled a crow's nest. Tamping down a wave of nausea, I made my way to the kitchens as Pepper has asked, entering slowly and stopping at the doorway to take a look around.

It was quite big and comprised of way too much space to simply be a kitchen. It looked more like a hybrid between a living room, dining room and breakfast counter. Kitchen cupboards just happened to line the wall as well, alongside a stove, a large oven and an equally large microwave. On its left was a gigantic TV. In front of it were several couches and armchairs, making for the perfect lounging area for several people. Beyond that was a glass wall - floor to ceiling, letting in sunlight and showing off the breathtaking view of the city.

To the right was a large dining table, its dark wood shining in the light and beyond that were several doors, leading further into the building. I looked back at the sofas, where two people were seated - or rather, one was seated primly while the other was sprawled across the full length of one - a sandy haired man and a beautiful redhead. Pepper was at the stove, humming as she flipped pancakes. My stomach growled in approval.

"Louie," she called, "Come have breakfast." I sat down at the counter, my ears pricking up because of the eyes on my back.

"Coffee?" Pepper asked. I nodded. Pepper measured out a cupful of coffee beans.

'I'll do it," said an unfamiliar male voice. Pepper looked like she was about to object when a second voice floated towards us from the sofa.

"Let him, Pepper; the coffee grinder fascinates him."

I turn to look. A tall, broad shouldered man was heading for the counter. He wore a pair of gym shorts and a grey t-shirt. Frowning at the second speaker, the sandy haired man sprawled across the sofa, he made his way to the machine in question.

"I am not _fascinated_-"

"Yeah you are, Steve," said the redhead without even looking up. Huffing, Steve turned his back on the both of them. He then noticed me and smiled. I felt my stomach do a little flip-flop. Oh my… He really had quite the smile, and those blue eyes…

"I'm Louie," I said, hoping I wasn't blushing.

"That's Steve," said another voice and this one I was quite familiar with. "Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, our resident golden boy." Tony dropped into a chair two seats away from mine. Steve started up the coffee grinder and bit the pad of his thumb as he waited patiently for it to finish. It really did seem like he was fascinated by the kitchen appliance.

"My mum was a fan of yours," I said to Steve with a wry smile.

"He gets that a lot," said Tony grinning. Steve ducked his head, embarrassed. Tony waved a hand at the sofa. "That's Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, better known as Hawkeye and Black Widow. Agents of SHIELD… but that's all very hush-hush." There was a sudden tension in the room. The two agents were staring at Tony.

"You keep your secrets in very safe hands," I said to the two agents, jerking my head at Tony. Tony beamed.

"Sarcasm! Oh, I knew I liked you!" My mouth tilted upwards.

"Tony," said Natasha, frowning, "Can you come over here for a second?" Tony rolled his eyes but went over anyway. I looked around the room and tried not to pay attention to the quiet, heated words the redhead was obviously firing at Tony.

"For God's sake Tony, you barely known her for _two minutes_, you _can't_ go around telling people-"

"Coffee!" said Steve proudly and I looked up, thankful for the distraction. My stomach was felt a little queasy after hearing Natasha's words. But it had stopped now, and although everyone looked annoyed, one glance at Pepper seemed to send them all scurrying for a mug. With murmurs of thanks, everyone accepted the strong, sweet concoction and silence fill in the kitchen except for the quiet clink of mugs touching tabletops and the occasional odd murmur.

"You know," said Tony after a moment, "It still amazes me that the seventy year old can make better coffee than the rest of us."

"Stop complaining, Tony," said Pepper, waving a spatula threateningly in his face, "No Iron Man suit can save you if you make Steve stop making his coffee."

"Four days since he got here and he's already taken my place in your heart," grumbled Tony, "How? Aren't I the more adorable one?" His eyes widened dramatically as he gave me a tragically comic version of the puppy dog eyes.

"Um," I started, a little taken aback.

"Stop scaring her, Tony," said Natasha in a bored voice.

"Make me," said Tony at once. Natasha rose from her chair, casually cracking her knuckles.

"Okay, _okay_. Jesus..." Smirking, she settled back once more, putting her legs up on the coffee table.

"I paid big money for that you know," said Tony loudly. He was ignored. Shaking my head I grinned. These people were so _weird_. Steve leaned against the counter, folding his arms.

"So, Louie," he said a tiny frown creasing his forehead, "What happened yesterday?" My smile faltered and the weight of yesterday's events came crashing down. I guess Tony and Pepper hadn't gotten around to giving them the four-one-one. I downed my coffee and told them everything. It was the second time I told someone and it was easier than the first. The words just tumbled out of my mouth and by the end of it my eyes were burning but I felt so _free._ Of course it would have been free-_er_ if a heavy silence hadn't greeted me at the end. I swallowed nervously. Did they not believe me?

"That's some story," said Natasha. I half shrugged- half nodded. Tony rubbed the back of his neck thoughtfully.

"Those are some interesting abilities. Have you ever tried to control them? Manipulate them?" I blinked.

"No, I don't know how to do it. It sort of just _happens_."

"There's got to be someone who can teach you though, someone who has had first-hand experience with this _magic _stuff," said Steve slowly. Tony nodded in agreement.

"What if it's not the sort of thing you can control?" I asked frowning. It's not like I particularly wanted to control this. I wanted it gone.

"Bull," said Tony airily, "Look at Bruce, he's got his little green problem down pat, walking around downstairs as cool as you please." I raised an eyebrow. _Little green problem?_ Tony noticed and leered.

"Sweetheart," he said looking straight at me, "The Hulk is in the building."

"_Tony!"_

I blink. The Hulk? _The_ Hulk? I took a moment to process this information. Everyone was looking at me as if they expected me to look terrified and bolt. Strangely, I didn't feel the need to.

"Okay."

Steve looked gobsmacked. So did Natasha and Clint, for that matter. Pepper chuckled weakly, staring at me.

"Well. Tony was right about one thing. You sure are different."

"I _knew_ I liked her!"

"You're seriously okay with knowing that Hulk is in near vicinity to you?" I shrugged and nodded.

"Why?" asked Natasha at once. I thought for a moment before I replied. It felt like I was being tested.

"Because I don't think the Hulk is a bad person. Maybe it's because I was never directly affected by his actions. But I've seen some of the footage from the fights on the news. Didn't he save Iron Man's life?"

"But you're saying you're not even a little bit frightened? You said you saw the footage, you saw what he can do."

"Well, yes, I am frightened," I squirmed a little in my seat. "But I'm just as frightened of the rest of you."

"Even Pepper?" asked Tony, lips twitching again.

"Especially Pepper," I said nodding firmly and shooting her a small smile. I hesitated before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is, um, he's just bigger and greener and more primal than us, but he's still an Avenger, right? Why should I be frightened for my life?"

"I find your niceness _really_ hard to believe," said Clint, shaking his head.

"I'm willing to give everyone a chance," I said, flushing. "Anyone deserves the benefit of the doubt."

_They're just used to people freaking out_, I reassured myself_. They don't think you're just blowing your_ _trumpet and acting like a bloody saint_._ Nope. Not one bit._

I reasoned with myself. Okay, it's true, the Hulk did seem scary and I probably would have a heart attack if I ever came face to face with him but at the same time, I couldn't help thinking, wasn't there someone _behind_ the Hulk? Wasn't he a human being with feelings? Right now, I could sympathize with Bruce Banner more than with anyone else in this room. I knew what it was like to lose control and not be able to do anything about it. I shivered and poured myself more coffee.

"I think we should try it," said Tony looking at the others.

"No, Tony," said Steve crossing his arms. "That's stupid and dangerous."

"It's not like he hurt her before, he helped. Louie," said Tony cutting across Steve, "There's someone who we think might be able to help you."

"You know someone who can stop this?" I asked.

"Maybe. Or maybe he can teach you to control it."

"Wait a second," said Natasha sounding horrified, "You're not talking about-,"

"Yeah, he is," snapped Steve, his blue eyes crackling.

"Who?" asked Clint looking back and forth between them, "Who are you talking about?"

"Loki," hissed Natasha, narrowing her eyes. Clint's jaw dropped open. He rounded on Tony looking furious.

"_Are you insane?"_ Tony folded his arms and glared at them all.

"He can help her, I'm positive he can."

"He killed 82 people in two days, Tony!" cried Natasha.

"And I bet you've killed more, Nat! We all have." His voice softened and he threw me a look. I felt rather ill again. Suddenly, these people weren't weird and goofy. Suddenly they were all very, very dangerous to be around. Clint snarled.

"It's not the same thing and you damn well know it. Are you crazy? _Loki_? There are so many people that can help Louie, like Xavier-"

"Besides, who gave you the right to decide that Louie is our resident rookie-?"

"Me," said Tony jabbing a finger at himself. "I'd rather she's my resident rookie than belong to SHIELD or Xavier or any other God forsaken bunch, we're as good as any –"

"But Tony, this is _Loki_ we're talking about -"

"He practically apologized to you Robin Hood, don't even deny it, he did. His mother's death must have knocked a little common sense into him because he seems completely out of it. Did he really look like he was about to tell us about his glorious purpose and take over the planet?"

"It's true, he did seem less… manic," said Pepper.

"He roamed around here on Earth for days and we didn't hear a peep out of him until SHIELD picked him up."

"Yes, well, how long will all of that last? He is the God of Mischief and Lies, he's probably just biding his time…"

"I'm not saying we have to trust him completely, we're not that stupid, we should give him a chance -"

Voices rose loudly in protest. I blocked it out, eyes prickling again. Blinking I sighed. I was crying way too much lately. I only looked up again at a soft, "Louie" from Pepper. She pushed a stack of pancakes towards me.

"Thanks," I said softly. The noise had died down, thankfully. As I raised a forkful of pancakes to my mouth, a movement to the left caught my eye. I turned to look and my breath caught in my throat. I was gazing into beautiful emerald eyes, shimmering and shifting in the light. Pale skin, high cheekbones, long hair in a shade of ebony to rival mine; everything about him was beautiful and so very, very dangerous. _Oh._

"You."

* * *

Bruce was a sweet guy with an untidy mop of curls and intelligent brown eyes behind a pair of wire rimmed glasses. He spoke quietly, moved silently and efficiently and seemed to be the only one besides Pepper who didn't mind how, well, _insane_ Tony Stark was. Right this very moment the man in question was at the other end of the lab pulling up virtual screens and talking rapidly to himself. Bruce approached me, thermometer in hand.

"I'm just going to check your vitals before we move on to some other tests, okay?" I nodded and eyed Tony, who was still talking nineteen to the dozen and scribbling on scraps of paper.

"Is he always like that?" Bruce laughed quietly.

"Yes, I'm afraid so." After checking all vitals and producing me to be of good health, Bruce began to ask me about my abilities. I told him all that had happened to me, from the water bottle incident to the alleyway one. By this time Loki and Steve had also slipped into the lab. All the Avengers were taking turns to supervise Loki and currently on Loki-watch was Captain America. Loki wasn't at all happy about the situation.

"When did the symptoms start?"

"A couple of weeks ago, maybe," I said, shrugging.

"Did anything at all happen to trigger?" I bit my lip.

"Well I was holidaying in Greenwich when I got caught in that huge alien invasion."

"I see," said Bruce. His eyes flicked to Loki who was staring fixedly at his fingernails.

"I remember all the fighting but at one point I must have tripped and blacked out because the next thing I knew, I was in a hospital bed." Bruce examined my eyes and prodded the back of my head.

"Perhaps," said Loki quietly, "you fell through a portal, rendering you unconscious." Tony nodded, now pulling up scenes from the battle in Greenwich.

"That seems plausible; they were opening up everywhere," he looked at Loki, "That's how you said you ended up here, right?" Loki nodded. While Bruce took notes, I took the opportunity to study the God of Mischief. I had read the stories; the more recent ones on the news and the old myths. Loki was not however what I'd expected him to look like. The guy was so _odd_. Aside from the fact that he insisted on wearing full Asgardian armour, he stood in the lab like he belonged there, with a sense of authority not unlike what Steve's personality exuded. I almost smiled. He definitely had the upbringing of a prince. Almost immediately, Loki met my eyes and I blinked, a little uncomfortable. What were his powers? Was telepathy one of them? I couldn't remember if any of the articles I had read had mentioned it. I forced myself not to look away.

I didn't trust him, no matter how attractive his cheek bones were. Bruce broke our little impromptu staring match by asking me to stand.

"I'm going to try something before I let Loki take over," he said, beckoning me to a table at the back of the lab. Now that I was closer I could see that a space had been cleared out, with a plain wooden stool in the centre.

"I have no idea what triggers your powers, Louie," he said waving me over to the stool, "but I'm assuming highly charged emotion has something to do with it. So, I want you to think of something that will spark off some kind of powerful feeling that will cause you to do something." I gripped the edges of the seat. Powerful emotions huh? Loki watched me, frowning. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Something that makes you happy, or sad, or mad?" asked Bruce encouragingly. It was easier said than done. I gave myself a mental shake.

_Concentrate, Louie, you can do this. Think._ Happy memories. Weekends with my mom. Reading in the treehouse. Graduation. But nothing happened. The seconds ticked by in silence and I was aware of everyone in the room watching me closely. Another minute passed.

"Maybe thoughts aren't enough," came Bruce's voice softly, breaking the quiet. I frowned, disappointed. Here I was, in front of some of the most powerful men on the planet and I was coming off as a rather stupid little girl.

"Okay, next I'm going to show you a series of pictures and videos. I'm going to try and trigger some sort of reaction from you."

"Okay," I replied clasping my hands.

"Right then, Jarvis if you could-," There was a slight commotion and Pepper burst into the room.

"Everyone, Thor's here," she said in a falsely bright voice. "He insisted on coming down to greet you."

She threw a slightly apologetic glance at Loki who had gone rigid, eyes glued to the door. Voices could be heard from further up the corridor and soon enough Natasha walked in. Her face was smooth and blank but I didn't miss how her hand kept brushing over her hip holster. Four people followed; two women, Clint and a tall, blond man dress similarly to Loki. He had several days' worth of stubble and walked at a slow, steady pace. I felt a sudden pang. I knew that walk very well. When you lose someone you walk that walk, pretending everything was okay, that you were going to be okay. His voice was deep, a gentle rumble and his smile seemed sad. So this was Thor.

My eyes fell on the two women flanking him. One was small and dainty, with long brown hair and pretty brown eyes - a much prettier brown than mine. She was gripping Thor's hand tightly and he was holding on just as tight. She was mumbling softly to him and he smiled tenderly as he responded. My eyes move to the woman on the other side. I gaped. She caught my eye and her mouth dropped open too. It was Darcy.

"You!" We both exclaimed the same time. Distracted, Thor and the other woman both looked up. I could tell the exact second Thor noticed Loki. He went absolutely still. The woman clutching his hand gasped. Darcy too, blinked.

"Oh my god."

There was complete silence. Clint was outside the room because Thor was blocking the doorway but everyone else was stuck inside, each trying their best to disappear into the background. Nobody dared to speak a word.

Surprisingly, it was the small woman that moved first. She approached Loki, frowning as if she were trying to decide whether she was seeing things or not. Hesitantly, she reached out to him. Loki flinched. She placed her hand on his cheek, cradling his face. He wasn't the only one who looked shocked. The petite brunette smiled slightly.

"I never got to thank you." Loki narrowed his eyes.

"It is not necessary to thank me."

"Yeah it is," she said, nodding. "It really is." She smiled a little wider and dropped her hand. Stepping away, she blushed, realizing that everyone else was staring at her. Hastily she looked at Darcy and then at Thor. Thor was still frozen in place staring straight at his brother. Loki's eyes shifted nervously in between Thor's and he raised both his hands in a small 'here I am' sort of gesture.

"Hello, Thor," he said quietly. There was a long pause. Thor swallowed.

"How-," he broke off, throat working, before repeating in a stronger voice. "How?" Loki looked pained.

"It seems that the stories we were told as children were true, brother. Monsters do heal quite fast from the worst of wounds." Something in Thor's face broke and he strode forward. Grabbing Loki by the shoulders, he shook him, hard.

"_How many times_ do I have to tell you that you are _not_ a monster, you are my _brother_, you stupid, foolish-," Thor's voice broke and he grasped Loki's shoulder, looking straight into his eyes. I looked away, feeling uncomfortable: this wasn't something everyone should stand around ogling.

"I'm sorry," Loki whispered. Thor emitted a strangled sort of noise and pulled to his brother into a bone crushing hug. Loki's face showed discomfort only for a moment. Hesitantly, he returned the embrace and in a minute the frown on his face had relaxed. Letting go of him, Thor glared.

"Never," he thundered, "do that to me again. _Ever_. No more lies, Loki." Loki smiled a crooked smile.

"I'll try my best, brother." Thor's eyes crinkled as he smiled. Then he frowned as if noticing something for the first time. Loki answered his unspoken question with a roll of his eyes.

"No, Thor, I didn't steal anything," he said coolly. "I merely found it."

"What is it?" Loki turned and pointed to me.

"That." Thor's curious gaze swept over me, as did the two women's. I sighed. Here we go again.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew.

Sooooooo :3 What did y'all thiiinnnkkkk? Too sappy? Out of character?

Let me know with a review! I love hearing from you guys, it makes my day when I see that you took a minute or two of your time to give your opinion on the story. By the way, how do you feel about Louie? I wish I could draw well enough to show you what she looks like in my mind's eye...

Hmm, I feel like I'm forgetting to mention something... Darn it. I'm sure the minute I upload this, I'll remember -_- how annoying.

Okay lovies, that's all I got for now. I have much editing to do for the next few chapters.

I hope you liked it and I hope you will stick with Louie through her story :)

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time :D

Much love,

xo


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** I was right. The minute I uploaded, I remembered what I wanted to say at the end of the last chapter -_-

What I wanted to say was, I know a lot of people are not a fan of Jane Foster; personally I agree. I think she was a waste of space in Thor: The Dark World. However, Louie is all about second chances, and so am I. I think I'm gonna give her a chance to redeem herself a little bit in this story. So she'll be hanging around for a while.

Also, I know Nat is coming off as a bit of a Goody two shoes, and I want to say I have NOTHING against her (I personally adore the Black Widow), but for the sake of the story (if there actually is a plot to this damn thing) she has to be a little bit of a good, obedient, by the book agent. For now anyway ;)

Now that that's done, let's move on shall we :D

Replies to the reviews:-

**Queen Martha Pond: **Thank you so much for your review! Yeah I loved the little interactions between them, they were so much fun to write :D and yes, the brothers are back together! It's not going to be smooth sailing all the way, but hey, fingers crossed :3 Hope you enjoy this one!

**literaturelife7: **YES IT WAS! :D congratulations! You win the price. I um, don't quite know what to give you though.. hmmm. what would you like? :) I'm glad you like Louie, yes, she's got plenty of spunk. Well, thank you ever so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter! ;D

**TheIronBat: **Whoaaaa. This is the longest review I've ever been given :o I'm so happy you liked the chapter, and so grateful you took the time to comment on each bit! Yeah, Louie's brave speech was probably my favourite part about that chappie. I was also getting kind of sick of characters fearing the Hulk for no reason. Anyone with half a brain can understand he's not really that bad. And I agree with you. All Loki needs is love and that's what I'm trying to give him. This story is really building up to a series of related fluffy moments. yeesh. I hope I didn't just scare you away. Haha anyway, I'll let you get on to the chapter. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**Louie POV**

I sat in my room on the carpet, bowl of water in front of me. Taking a deep breath I tried again.

"Move," I said, squinting until I was cross-eyed. "Move. _Move_." The water stayed stubbornly still. Grunting in exasperation I stretched out on the floor and rubbed my face. God, how was I going to do this? It had been a week since Thor arrived at Stark Tower and the entire time had been nothing short of chaos. All I knew was that Loki was truly the most insufferable _asshole_ in the entire world. He was _rude_ and _obnoxious_ and always had something to say about me and my inability to control my so-called powers. At first when I was practicing with Bruce, he simply watched. He made no comments as Tony and I tried again and again and again to trigger some sort of power within me. A few days in, we had nothing and Loki decided to stop observing and join in.

* * *

"Here," he said interrupting my meditation lesson with Bruce. He placed a bowl of water in front of me and crossed his arms. "Move the water."

"Move it _how_?" I asked confused. He frowned like I was being stupid on purpose.

"You figure it out," he replied. I gaped. Well, this was going to be fun.

And boy, was it fun. Every day he'd leave me with the stupid bowl of stupid water and ask me to use my stupid powers to move it. Bruce decided he was going to let Loki take the reins and stepped back, opting to supervise instead of actually help. This little cycle continued for about a week until looking at a bowl made me want to scream.

"Nothing yet?" He asked on the eighth day, disbelievingly. He shook his head. "Disappointing."

"Maybe if you just told me how, I could show you some progress," I said firing up.

"Louie," said Bruce softly looking up from the book he was reading. Loki looked at me coolly.

"I will not teach anything to a student who so obviously lacks the competency required to levitate the simplest of substances. Once she moves it, we shall begin our real lessons." He told Bruce as he headed for the door. It was all I could do to keep myself from chucking the damn thing, water and all, at his head.

"How does he expect me to just know how to move the stupid thing?" I demanded of Bruce, fuming. Bruce shrugged.

"Maybe there's a method to his madness," he said turning a page, "maybe moving the water is some sort of test of worthiness you have to pass." I nodded slowly. That made sense. Some kind of Asgardian ritual. Right. Well, I could deal with that.

"Or," he added thoughtfully, "he's screwing with all of us." I slumped, defeated. Really, none of them were of any help at all. Now I'm not one to particularly take insults to heart, but Loki simply grated my nerves in a way no one else could. It was very hard to be cordial, though I did try, I really did. But it seemed that the nicer I tried to be, the nastier Loki got. Bruce told me sagely that that having a temper wouldn't help me at all and I should learn to calm down. This had me wanting to slap him too.

Tempers were running high at Stark Tower; the past three days had been a series of arguments and death threats. Thor and Loki had had a massive fight of some sort which resulted in Loki having to be locked up in his room with an annoyed Natasha watching over him (and trust me, an annoyed Natasha is _terrifying_) and Bruce had to be rushed down to one of the safe compartments Tony built for him in the basement because he started to look _very_ green around the gills. The more peaceful ones like Steve, Pepper, Darcy and Jane took every opportunity to escape the tower, leaving Jarvis to deal with the rest. To top it all off, we had had a conversation with Nick Fury, the director of SHEILD. Needless to say, that did _not_ go well.

Almost immediately after Bruce had calmed down, we were ushered into the conference room.

Fury was _appalled_. Apparently Tony had failed to tell him about the, and I quote directly from Agent Maria Hill's report "22 year old woman who caused random tornadoes indoors" that was crashing his place. After yelling at him for a good ten minutes about _Responsibility_ and _Safety _and _Dear_ _God_ _do_ _you_ _ever_ _listen_ _to_ _me?!_ Fury moved on to the problem of Loki.

"Thor," he snapped. "Take him back to Asgard. We don't want anything to do with him. Take him back and take him back _now_."

"Director," said Thor looking ashamed, "I sincerely apologize on behalf of my brother-,"

"Save it," said Fury, "just get him away from Earth." Tony chose this moment to jump in.

"Hold on a second. I think Loki can help Louie."

"Oh, here we go," mumbled Clint. Fury blinked.

"Stark," he said slowly, "have you been drinking?"

"I told him you wouldn't agree to this," said Natasha nonchalantly, picking at her sleeve.

"You want _Loki_ _Laufeyson_ to have access to a being with uncontrollable powers?" Fury asked incredulously.

"Well we're here too," said Bruce quickly, "to supervise…" His words trailed off into silence as he looked at the Director's face. Fury looked ready to explode.

"You have two dangerous people under your roof and now you're telling me you want to _team_ _them_ _up_? No," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Deal with Loki. I'll send an escort over for Miss Montgomery. She will be taken into SHIELD's programs-,"

"What?" I squeaked.

"Okay, no," said Tony beginning to look pissed. He glared around the table, at Bruce and Thor who looked at each other helplessly, at the agents who avoided his gaze and, at Steve. A few seconds of insistent threatening and begging conveyed entirely through facial expressions later, Steve sighed tiredly.

"Director, it was you who wanted the Avengers to spend more time together. This is the perfect opportunity won't you say? The entire team, under one roof?"

Tony grinned, clearly secure in his position of victory. I watched silently, impressed at the way Steve was playing his cards. So if the golden boy wanted it… Hmm. I filed that information away in my mind for future reference.

"You agree to this too, Captain?" Steve nodded and flashed me a comforting smile. Fury didn't speak for a moment or two. I crossed my fingers tightly under the table and bit my lip.

"Well," he said slowly, "I guess you could try. But," he fixed his eye on me coldly, "blow anything up and you'll be in SHIELD custody before you can say _magic_." I gulped and nodded, shuffling my feet.

"Not that she has displayed any sort of magical prowess since," said Loki snidely. I ignored him.

"Loki," said Thor warningly.

"Leave it, Thor," I muttered, "he does have a point."

"Well I'll leave you to it then," said Fury leaning back, rubbing his forehead. "Please don't screw this up. Barton, Romanoff, report back to base." The screen went black.

"Well, that went well, don't you think?" said Tony cheerfully.

* * *

I blew a raspberry at the ceiling. Sure it did, I thought grimly. Tomorrow Steve, Thor, Loki and I would be going to Asgard to face a trial in front of Odin. I was going because, as Clint said, if the douchebag wasn't going to help me, maybe his dad might. My mind went back to half an hour ago.

* * *

"I don't know what has gotten into him," said Thor worriedly as Loki's bedroom door slammed. I shrugged.

"Don't worry about it Thor," I said patting his arm, "he's probably just nervous about going back to meet your dad."

"I agree, Lady Louie. He hasn't been on good terms with Odin for quite some time."

"Maybe right now he needs his brother to be there for him?" I asked tentatively, not forgetting the way they had almost come to blows a couple of days back. Thor looked at me nervously.

"Perhaps," he said, fiddling with his hammer. A few seconds later he gave me a quick, eye-crinkly smile before heading for the closed door. "I will see what I can do. Many thanks for your sound advice, Lady Louie."

* * *

As it had before, the memory of the conversation made me grin. Thor was such a sweetheart. Unlike his dick of a brother. Hopefully, Loki hadn't thrown him out on his ass. I turned onto my side, burying my face in the carpet.

"This is useless." I was getting absolutely nowhere with my abilities and there was such a nasty atmosphere in the entire building. Bruce was hiding in the lab because he felt it too and said that it made the other guy nervous. Not having Bruce and his generally (surprisingly) calm self around made me edgy because hanging out with Bruce was the best thing I could do, especially when Loki was around. For some odd reason, the god was less vicious in the vicinity of the doctor.

Footsteps came down the hallway and Tony appeared at the door.

"Hey Louie, I-," he stopped and stared at me. "Did you fall off the bed or something?"

"Yes," I replied smoothly. "Then I rolled three feet away from it just so you could walk in and question the physics of the situation." Tony eyed me with his_ you're really weird look _before continuing.

"As I was saying, I realised I hadn't even showed you my library yet."

"Library?" I asked, perking up.

* * *

The library was hidden away behind a door on the far left of the kitchen, one of the few I had rarely seen open. Tony wiggled his eyebrows at me, flung the door open and ushered me forward. My jaw dropped open.

"Oh my god."

Rows upon rows and shelves upon shelves of books met my eyes. Each shelf reached almost to the very top of the large room, and it was quite a large room, about four times the size of my bedroom here in Stark Tower.

"How in the world does it all _fit_?" Tony grinned.

"I have talent, doll" I nodded dumbly.

"You certainly do." Tony looked inordinately please with himself as he walked further into the room. As we passed bookshelves, I could see tall stools and armchairs placed here and there, all strategically placed into windows or by desks.

"Almost all these books are first editions," said Tony running his hand over the spines as he waltzed through. I let out a squeak.

"Almost – almost all of them?"

"Come over here, I think you'll find this section the most interesting."

I went over, my eyes looking at the titles of the shelves I passed. They covered a wide variety of topics, but they mostly seemed smooth and untouched. The ones that looked the most worn were titles like _Nuclear_ _Physics_ and _Particle_ _Theory_, their spines creased from being turned hundreds of times.

"Voila," he showed me a corner. It was the furthest from the door, the shelves climbing all the way up to the ceiling. Sunlight filtered in through the window, a tall and unusually old fashioned fitting for such a modern, tech savvy building, complete with its own padded window seat and fluffy cushions. A low coffee table sat next to it, a stack of books piled neatly in the middle.

Oh, but the shelves themselves... Shakespeare, Bronte, Wilde, Dickens, Wordsworth, the names jumped out at me. I spun around.

"You have a _gold_ _mine_ in here!" I literally squealed, laughing.

"There's children's literature too," said Tony, his eyes dancing with amusement. He gestured the far end of the floor to ceiling bookshelves. I rushed over and pulled out around twenty titles.

"Have you read all of these?" I asked, my insides wriggling with pure happiness. Tony shook his head.

"No, these are just collectibles I guess. I'm more interested in the-,"

"Physics and stuff," I nodded understandingly and looked back at the titles around me. "This is so great."

"I'll leave you to it then," said Tony, "if you get lost on your way out, call Jarvis. He'll help you."

I nodded. Balancing each book on top of another I stumbled over to the window seat. Without further ado I opened a familiar title and sank back into the cushions. It was like greeting an old friend.

* * *

**Tony POV**

Outside the white door, Tony grinned.

"I must say sir," said Jarvis very quietly, "the window seat was a nice addition. It will suit the room nicely."

* * *

**Thor POV**

Thor moved hesitantly down the hallway and knocked ever so reluctantly on his brother's door. After a long moment, it opened an inch and green eyes narrowed at him.

"Have you come to play babysitter like Agent Romanoff?" Thor frowned and shook his head. He reminded himself exactly why he should be especially nice to Loki today.

"May I come in?" Loki glared for a moment before stepping back and flopping onto the bed. Thor followed suit and the bed creaked loudly. Loki winced.

"Loki."

Thor sighed when he got no reply.

"I thought we were beyond this silence, brother." And Thor really had thought so. Nothing has made him happier than being accepted into Loki's embrace in that first meeting. After weeks of unbearable, mind-numbing sadness it had healed Thor in a way nothing else could have. But now...

Loki didn't answer, instead choosing to examine the ceiling.

"You keep me in the dark about what ails you, brother. You only open your mouth to insult Lady Louie. You are lucky she is so understanding," Thor narrowed his eyes. "Yet perhaps that is why you choose to bully her so? Because you know she cannot hurt you?" Loki didn't reply. Thor's voice gentled.

"Are you envious of the power she wields, brother?" Loki stiffened, eyes narrowing slightly. It was a slightly movement, but it didn't escape Thor's notice.

"I see," he said quietly. He rose and shook his head.

"You know I am always here for you and that I wish to help you. But jealousy is a problem you have to overcome by yourself Loki," With that, he turned to leave.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki's eyes followed Thor's retreating form down the corridor. He counted five minutes in his head and followed. It was almost lunchtime after all and Loki knew Pepper Potts would be most displeased if everyone didn't show up for food. Loki may be a wanted criminal, but nobody could tell him he was a bad houseguest.

More unusual Midgardian food awaited in the kitchen. Thor was already attacking a big bowl of heavens knows what, Steve watching him proudly. Loki assumed the Captain had prepared the meal again. Nobody else was there; the usually packed kitchen seemed oddly empty because many of the residents of the Tower had gone out on various errands. Loki took a seat next to Thor as Pepper strode in, her arm firmly attached to Tony, who was dragging along a disgruntled Bruce.

"Now," she said in a sweet, venomous tone, "you will _sit_ and you will _eat_. Until then, the labs are on lockdown." The pair looked extremely unhappy but took their seats, willing to sit and suffer in silence than face the wrath of the woman in charge. Pepper's eyes scanned the room.

"Where's Louie?"

"The library, Miss Potts," said Jarvis, "shall I-?"

"Yes please, Jarvis."

Loki pushed around the food on his plate unhappily. They were leaving to Asgard at dawn the next day and he still hadn't escaped, hadn't even thought of possible scenarios. He didn't understand; he wanted to be free, but he felt so averse to running. He was tired of running and hiding. As if sensing what he was thinking about, Thor thumped him on his back.

"Eat, brother."

A door opened and Louie slowly emerged, her nose buried in a large book. She looked up for a moment; eyes glazed and found her seat. Once she served herself, she maneuvered the food into her mouth with one hand, the other balancing the book on her lap. Loki suddenly had a mental image of a little boy doing the exact same thing, only shooting anxious glances at his father to hope he didn't notice the bad table manners.

Not that he ever had, thought Loki grouchily. It was always Frigga who had given him a swift look before the book slipped out of his fingers and onto her lap. Loki shook his head to clear the memories. Memories were painful things he could not deal with at the moment.

"Interesting read?" asked Steve conversationally. In reply all he got was silence. Loki almost smiled.

After lunch the Avengers held a meeting. Pepper and Thor's friends, Darcy and Jane, had bowed out of it with little regret; it seemed that none of them wanted to witness another argument between the two gods, the Hulk, a super soldier and a billionaire genius. Louie had attempted to sidle out of the room, book in hand, but Tony had flung an arm around her shoulders and kept her in place.

"The Allfather knows of our arrival," said Thor to start things off. "I have spoken to Heimdall. He awaits us at dawn tomorrow." Loki drummed his fingers on the tabletop_. At dawn..._

"What do you think will Odin do?" asked Steve.

"I assume I'll be locked up once more. Pity," said Loki, meeting Louie's eyes. She frowned. Smirking, Loki looked away.

"We'll reach Asgard at dawn. Then what?" asked Louie, her fingers twisting together.

"The Allfather will speak to us and make a judgment. If he cannot give a decision on his own, he will call upon his Counsel. They will hold a meeting. I know not how long it will take them to reach a solution. Sometimes the elders speak within a matter of minutes, other times, a matter of weeks."

"And then we come home?" Thor nodded.

"Well," Tony placed his hands on the table, "you better start packing."

* * *

Waking up at the crack of dawn was never a pleasant ordeal.

Loki was exhausted. In the entire time he had been stuck in this building, not once had he had a full night's sleep. The constant supervision and the high tensions did nothing to help neither his mood nor his insomnia. Pure adrenaline pumped through him and tied his stomach into knots. So this was the day that would determine his fate.

As the sun rose, everyone piled into the elevator; Heimdall would summon them from the top of Stark Tower. Thor clamped a hand firmly on Loki's shoulder. Loki didn't even bother to try and shake it off. What was his fate? A gilded prison? He knew his behavior during his short stay here hadn't been up to par with what the Avengers had expected; chances of a good word being put in were rather bleak.

Not that he could help having a go at Louie- the girl was so frustratingly slow about anything remotely related to concentration, focus and magic. Loki was yet to see her abilities once more. It was just _aggravating_ to watch her fumble her way through hours and hours of attempts at the simple task of levitation. He relished the moments in which he broke her controlled façade, making her glare and raise her voice. But more often than not, it was he who got annoyed because she simply would not rise to the bait and snap back at him. Instead her shoulders would slump and her aura would wilt. If he called her an idiot, she sighed and nodded and ignored him. The jibes, the soft remarks under his breath that become more and more obvious did nothing more than make Clint Barton finally snap and threaten to sew his mouth shut. Loki hated the girl from the bottom of his heart, even though he knew he was coming off as unreasonable and childish.

Thus, Tony had put his deal on hold. Because of his lack of cooperation, they were taking the girl to Odin.

As goodbyes were exchanged, Tony took a quick moment to mutter to him, "Not too late to bring this around Loki. Help her and we'll help you." Loki glanced around to see if anyone had heard him. Everyone seemed preoccupied with wishing the small party a safe and successful journey. Suspiciously so.

But before he could make any sort of reply, Tony had stepped back to join the Doctor and the women and everything had disappeared in a brilliant flash of light.

* * *

**A/N:** Whew! Took forever I know. I'm sorryyyyyy! Okay come on, cheer up, the next chapter is going to be at Asgard :D Erhhmegerrrd, so excited. :3 I hope I got all the grammar mistakes this time round; I know there are many in the previous chapters. I don't really have a beta you see, so when I'm super wound up, I miss out the little grammar errors that, ironically, irk me whenever I read other fanfiction stories.

So to prevent myself from being a shameless hypocrite, I decided to let this simmer for another night, and re-read it before pressing that upload button.

Also, remember y'all, there's a method to Loki's madness.

Ookay, I think that is all I have to say :) OH! You guys! The story has 25 followers now! Awwwwwh! So 25 people or more actually care about the end of this story?! Omg :') that really makes me happy, haha.

Yay.

Okay, I'm gonna go to bed, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Do, do, DO leave a review! I'd love for this story to get 25 reviews; now that would be pretty cool hehe. Yes, I'm hinting very obviously. Take the hint. No for real, I love hearing what you guys think. Come on :3

Anyway, hopefully I'll see you guys soon!

Oh and I wish you a very happy New Year!

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's Note:**Well hello there :D Yes, it's been a while has it not? I apologize. But hey, this chapter will be covering all the little details and from the next one onwards, all the fun and games will begin.

So, I'm just going to let you read… go read. Shoo.

Replies to the reviews first though.

**literaturelife7:**I totally agree. I'm glad you liked that bit, I thought I over did it a bit lol ;D Here you have the next chapter! I hope you like it.

**kykyxstandler:**Your wait is over! Enjoyyy! :D

**Queen Martha Pond:**Well, this chapter is going to deal with all things Asgard ;) So... enjoy my darling! The library scene was lovely to write, it's a bit of a favourite for me too :3 Thanks so much for the last review!

**acompletenerd:**I think, my friend, all your curiousity will be sated in this chapter. Don't give up on the story though, we have a looong way to go haha ;)

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

**Louie POV**

The party broke up for the night but I hung back, wanting to speak to Tony. The trip to Asgard was making me extremely nervous. Once everyone left, Pepper in the rear, Tony dropped into a chair and put his feet up.

"What's up, buttercup?" he asked kindly.

"Two things," I said slowly. I had thought long and hard about what I was going to ask him. He nodded for me to continue.

"I'm never going to be able to go back to my old life, am I?" Tony shook his head.

"Not unless we remove those special talents, sweetheart. And even then, Fury will probably hound you for the rest of your life." I sighed and rubbed my eyes.

"In that case, I should arrange to get a place to live that's closer to the Tower."

"Or you could move right in." I blinked.

"That wouldn't be right."

"Why not?" Tony asked, putting his hands behind his head. "I can afford it. I'm inviting you. You'd be safe. You really can't argue with me on this."

"But-"

"Louie," he spoke over me, "so far, the chances of you losing your powers are slim to none. You'll probably be seeing the inside of this tower constantly for a long time, so just move in. It would be best for all of us."

I closed my mouth, thinking. Okay, time for a new compromise.

"Okay," I said slowly, "But you've got to let me earn my keep." Tony raised his eyebrow.

"Are you always this difficult?" I nodded, keeping a straight face. He sighed.

"Fine," he said, "what would you like to do?"

"I could compile your notes for you."

"My research?"

"Yeah. I'm a fast typist. Or a writer. Whichever you want. Besides, your office needs the neatening up. Do you know your last report was written on paper napkins?" Tony rolled his eyes.

"Alright detective, I concur. You can write my notes for me." I nod.

"So what else was on your mind?" I picked at my sleeve.

"It's about Loki," I looked up at Tony. He was leaning forward now. "Do you really think he's the best shot I have at solving this situation?" Tony nodded.

"But why?" I asked a little desperately, "why Loki?" Tony drummed his fingers on the table.

"Because he knows the most about what we're dealing with here. Also, he's someone who is at your disposal - it's not like he has other things to do. He'd be able to concentrate solely on you, and he _should_ because we're offering him a way out. It's either this or Asgardian prison."

"But if we take him back, won't we lose that chance?" I asked. Tony nodded, frowning.

"Unfortunately, he's not cooperating and I can't see a way around that. He'll probably be thrown in prison and we can't stop that from happening if he walks into his cell quietly. They'll be more than willing to take him back. Unless…"

I bite my lip. Here's what I was hoping for.

"Unless?"

"Unless we can give Odin a valid reason for keeping him." My insides clench in victory.

"In that case, I might have an idea."

* * *

Tony eyed me, worry creasing his eyes. The sun was just about to break through.  
"I've told Steve what you're about to do. He's not happy, but he'll not interfere." I nodded.

"You think it'll work?" I whispered. Tony cocked his head.

"Strangely, yes. You have a special talent for convincing people. Good luck," he said giving me a quick hug, "and remember your plan is only a last resort." I stepped back, leaning against Thor's left. Darcy gave me a little wave from where she was standing. Jane gave me a quick hug.

"For what it's worth," she whispered, "it's a beautiful place, so enjoy your stay." I gave her a small smile, my insides twisting almost painfully. Thor placed a warm hand on my shoulder.

"Ready?" he asked. I nodded. There was a brilliant flash of light and the world I knew disappeared from sight.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki's feet barely hit the ground before the palace guards stepped forward. Silently, he held out his hands. Within seconds they were shackled, along with his feet. He supposed he was lucky they left off the muzzle this time. The walk to the palace was draining in itself. Loki found himself simply staring at the Captain and Louie, who seemed completely bowled over by the city.

"It was a rainbow bridge, Steve," he heard her hiss excitedly. Steve Rogers nodded, looking stupefied. The stares of the Asgardians didn't seem as bad when he kept his eyes focused on Louie. Her keen fascination in everything was almost entertaining to behold. The party walked steadily until the palace gates came into view. Immediately they slowed down and Loki blinked, wondering why.

He saw it almost immediately; it was only a few feet away, glittering in solid gold. She stood, hands flung out, defending the city she loved so, a determined expression on her face. Thor stopped in front of it and Loki knew it was for his benefit. He drank in the sight, trying so, so hard to see something, anything. He didn't even know what he was looking for. All he knew was that he wanted nothing more than the real version to be there. That he would give anything to see even a look of disappointment upon Frigga's face, rather than the golden expression her statue held.

Louie looked at Thor.

"Is this her?" she asked. Thor nodded and she reached out and touched the statue's face.  
She glanced back, meeting Loki's eyes briefly. The moment passed and they were moving once more.

The hall was full of people; maidens, counselors, lords, ladies and guards. With every step the party took, the silence grew bigger and bigger. Loki refused to meet anyone's gaze, simply focusing on the long braid down Louie's back. It was only when the party divided into two and he was brought directly before the Allfather did he raise his eyes.

Odin seemed as tired as Thor had been two weeks ago. The loss of his wife had certainly taken its toll.

"So," he said staring down at him. "It seems that you gave once again escaped the jaws of death, Loki." Loki tilted his head, not speaking for fear of what will come out of his mouth. Odin's eye travelled slowly over him, Thor and the humans. He paused for a moment.

"Leave us," he said raising a hand. Quickly and quietly the hall emptied. Once it was so, the Allfather sat back and held a hand out to Louie.

"Come, child." Louie nervously stepped forward. As she passed Loki could feel her aura. It was trembling like a leaf.

Odin took her hand and closed his eye momentarily. After a second or two he frowned. Letting go, he opened his eye and Lorie immediately scuttled back to Thor's side.

"Child," he said slowly, "what happened to you?" Patiently Thor explained. Odin listened quietly and shook his head.

"I do not believe I can help you. I am sorry." Louie deflated, looking utterly dejected.  
Odin's gaze travelled back to Loki.

"Father," said Thor quietly, "as a special request, would it be possible for Loki not to go through the courts once more?" Odin nodded slowly.

"Very well. Loki Laufeyson," he said formally, "you have been charged with the crimes of murder and treason. Do you deny these claims?" Loki shook his head.

"No."

"Under ordinary circumstances, the penalty for this would be death. However," he added, "Thor has brought to my notice the sacrifice you made in order to save us all. For that, leniency shall be given. Your punishment shall be eternal imprisonment -"

"Wait!" Loki's eyes widened. Nobody spoke over the Allfather. Nobody.

"Lady Louie," said Thor, upset.

"No wait, please," she moved forward. The guards flanking them shifted ready to pull her back. A small gesture from Odin stopped them. Loki could tell he was intrigued by the offending little thing. She looked straight at Odin, head held high, shoulders thrown back.

"I have an alternative."

"And what might that be, child?" Louie looked at Loki. To his shock, he could see her eyes glimmering with unshed tears.

"I could take responsibility for him. In return for his teachings." Odin cocked his head.

"You do not realise the gravity of your request, Louise Montgomery."

"Louie," said Thor worriedly.

"Please, Sir," she said quietly. "If you can't help me, he's my only chance. I would forever be in your debt." Odin steepled his hands. The seconds ticked by rapidly and Loki held his breath.

Louie was a mystery. Her magic was something none of them had ever seen and he was sure the Allfather too, felt the immense power surging within her. She was an invaluable asset to have on Odin's side, even with her skills at a nonexistent level. If they were honed and shaped however… she would be priceless.

"I need to speak with the Elders," he said finally and Loki groaned internally. That could take days and Loki would have to spend _his_ days inside _that_ _cage_. Odin waved his hand, indicating they were dismissed. Thor nodded and stepped forward, gently leading Louie away. At the doors they parted ways. The Elders were filing into the room once more.

"I will come see you as soon as I can," said Thor over the commotion.

"Bring the girl," Loki called back before the crowd swept them away, Thor and his guests towards the sleeping quarters and Loki towards the dungeons.

It was nearing sunset when Thor and the humans finally came. Loki was so relieved he almost cried. His prison was exactly the same as last time and staying in it was nearly driving him mad. They had all changed and, Loki assumed, settled in until the foreseeable future. Steve wasn't wearing his suit any longer, instead opting to wear some simple Midgardian clothes. Thor's tunic was different, the armour gone.

Louie was, Loki noted with some surprise, wearing an Asgardian dress. It was a pale cream in colour, and quite simple, but suited her. The curves of her body were accentuated well. Her hair was hanging in a waterfall down her back, by some miracle, tamed. A thin braid ran around her head, dotted with small flowers. She looked, Loki decided, quite nice. He blinked and shook his head. He was growing quite soft being around Thor.

"What news?" He asked his brother.

"I do not know yet," he replied. "Are you well?"

"I'm fine," Loki lied. Louie frowned.

"Why did you do that?" He asked her abruptly.

"Because I wanted to help," she replied. Loki wondered if she misread his question on purpose, "Odin seemed like the kind of person who would be interested in adding another tool to his belt. So I just handed one to him. You for me."

* * *

**Louie POV**

I bit my lip as I looked around. Jane was right. Asgard was beautiful. The place was beautiful and so were the people. Really, they made me feel quite insecure about myself. I mean, I'm not overly fat or overly skinny but I was no Natasha Romanoff. I did like their clothes though. The soft fabric was heavenly on the skin.

I leaned onto the balcony wall, enjoying the view. Steve came up beside me.

"Good morning," he said with a small smile.

"Morning," I smiled back. "Did you sleep well?" Steve shrugged.

"More or less."

He looked around before asking in a low voice, "Any word yet?" I shook my head.

"Thor said it won't be long now, though." Steve sighed in frustration.

"It's been four days since they've been cooped up in there. Why is it taking this long?"  
I shrugged, my insides doing a flip flop again.

"I suppose handling Loki is a big deal." Steve folded his arms and sighed again.

"Is Thor taking us sightseeing again?"

"I doubt it," I replied, "he said he's visiting some friends today."

"What are you going to do all day?" I shrugged.

"Take a walk I guess. Clear my head."

"Want me to come with you?" I shook my head.

"I want to be alone for a bit, if that's okay," I said apologetically. Steve nodded.

"You'll be okay on your own?" I nodded again. With a quick pat on my shoulder, he left.  
I hung around for a little while longer until it was too warm to stay outside. Then I headed for the halls. Wandering down the corridors I could barely keep track of where I was going. I didn't worry though, because there were people everywhere.

I tugged a lock of my hair shyly, and kept my head down. Because of this I almost walked past it. However, the room had a strange pull to it. Instinctively I turned around and went back a few steps.

The door was high and well made, the wood carved and highly polished. I looked left and right. The corridor was deserted. Hesitating for only a moment longer, I pushed it open and entered.

Immediately, I knew where I was. The emerald green curtains were pulled close, casting an eerie glow over the room. The general colour theme was around green, gold and silver. There were a few portraits on the wall, mainly of the royal family. It was richly furnished and of a far better standard than my own room in the palace, which was saying something. One wall was lined with shelves and shelves of books.

Fascinated, I drew close. The titles were all in a different language, the letters flowery and curved. Curiousity brimming, I reached out to pull one out.

There was a sharp jolt through my arm and with a yelp I fell back.

_DON'T TOUCH THEM,_an angry voice ripped through my mind. I nearly cried out again.

"I'm sorry," I squeaked, trembling.

_LEAVE! LEAVE NOW!_I didn't need to be told again. I stood and ran for it. Once outside, I leant against the door, breathing heavily. How had he known? Loki was down in the dungeons, awaiting a decision, so how had he known I was in his room?

My arm was tingling uncomfortably. I examined it and groaned, shocked. The tips of my fingers were a bluish-purple.

"Louie!" there came a shout from up the corridor. Quickly, I hid my arm in the folds of my dress. Steve jogged towards me.

"There you are," he said beckoning, "come on, they've asked for us."

Odin sat on his throne, many lords and ladies flanking him.

"The council has decided on your fate, Loki," he said his voice so loud it bounced off the walls. I bit my lip nervously. Oh, please. My only chance.

"We have taken into consideration your input, Thor and that of your friends," his eye turned to Loki, "Loki of Jotunheim, you have been charged with murder, trickery and treason. Do you deny any of these claims?"

"No," came the cool reply. I gulped.

"Under ordinary circumstances, the penalty would be death. However, due to your great sacrifice, leniency will be given. In addition to this, the friends of Midgard have made a special request." Odin paused, his eye meeting mine. I tried to keep my face as blank as possible.

"The Elders have decided," he continued slowly, "to agree to the requests made." Relief surged through me.

_Thank you!_

"But," Odin continued, "under certain conditions." Oh. Odin motioned with a hand and one of his lords rose. Clasping his hands in front of him, he began to speak.

"The conditions are as told forthwith. Loki the Trickster must always be under strict watch of the... Avengers," he paused and screwed up his nose at the unfamiliar word. "Asgard will cast a seal upon him, keeping his magical abilities at a bare minimum." I glanced at Loki. He looked very pale.

"Secondly, he will be placed under the immediate charge of Louise Montgomery." Thor frowned. Loki inhaled sharply besides him, eyes narrowing fractionally.

"If, for whatever reason, the prisoner escapes or causes harm to those around him, he will he brought immediately back to Asgard, where he will be marked an undesirable and banished from all realms until Ragnarok. The same applies," the elder glanced at Odin nervously, "to the keeper of Loki."

Oh, poor bastard, I thought to myself. I looked to Steve to exchange a sympathetic glance but found him gazing at me in horror.

Wait a minute.

Oh _fuck_.

* * *

I heaved the last of the boxes into my room for the next, well, however long I was going to be around. Since it was to become my personal living quarters, I decided it definitely needed to be more personalised. I made a mental note to go shopping. I know my mom would definitely tell me to keep my chin up and look on the bright side. It was difficult of course, knowing that if Loki put even one toe out of line, it would be the end for me as well. I hadn't spoken to him yet, since we'd gotten back. He was furious, I knew. Pity. He was just beginning to look on me with an expression that wasn't complete distaste.

Immediately my mind went to the soft dress hidden in the back of my wardrobe, and the gleam of approval that had lit his eyes when I'd worn it. My face heated up a little. Okay, now was _definitely_ not the time to think about that. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," I called, clearing a space on the bed. Clint entered, poker face in place.

"Settled in alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. I just have to put everything away." He jerked his head.

"Come down to the gym. Nat and Steve want to talk to you." I followed him out. Steve was in his t-shirt and gym shorts again, looking decidedly yummy. Natasha was wearing a catsuit and in the process of stripping off her boots. They both looked up as we entered. Steve spoke up first.

"Well, we're obviously not happy with Odin's decision," he said, "but it's not like we have a choice. Fury won't care about one of us taking one for the team and getting banished, if it meant the human race was protected from Loki. So we're going to put a new plan in place."

I liked that he said _one of us._

"So," said Natasha walking over to one of the gym walls, "here's what we're going to do."  
And on the space grey wall, she inked out a plan in white-out.

'DAILY', she wrote in capitals.

"You'll go through a trainee program, on a daily basis, with the exception of Sunday, which you can have free. Every day, you will run, stretch and learn self defence with Steve, basically from around six to nine in the mornings. In the afternoon from two until however long we want, Clint and I will teach you to fight on the offence, including the use of weapons. That leaves you with the rest of the day to practice with Loki, write notes for Tony and do what you please," She glanced at me, "is that okay?"

I nod immediately.

"Good," she said approvingly. Natasha jerked her head at the door.

"We're done here. Bruce wants me to do a physical checkup on you. Come with me."

She lead me to her room. I looked around surreptitiously, noting the bare walls and sparse furnishing. She turned and folded her arms.

"Strip."

"What?" I gaped. She frowned in her no nonsense manner. Blushing furiously I pulled off my tee and sweatpants, standing in front of her in only my bra and panties. Oh, I seriously regretted the Pop Tarts I had this morning. She circled me, tapping her chin and then entered something into her phone.

"Okay, put your clothes back on," she said, "you don't have any bruises or such that stand out as unusual. You're of a decent height and build which will make for good fighting once we've licked you into shape. As I guessed, you have potential. You're just unfit, but it's nothing that can't be fixed.

"You have a lovely figure by the way. I don't think a strict diet is necessary, only three balanced meals… Jarvis can handle that," she added then frowned. "What happened to your fingers?"

"Oh," I invented, looking at the bruised digits, "The door banged on them." Natasha nodded suspiciously.

"Get Bruce to take a look at them."

"Yes ma'am." She scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"Get Pepper to get you this stuff. The exact brands, the exact number of each. No more, no less. No arguments." I glanced at it. It was a shopping list for some vitamins and sports clothes, training bras, shoes, socks, the works, along with my measurements. I nodded again, head spinning a little at the sight of the brands required.

"Thank you," I said suddenly, looking straight at her. I really meant it.

"You're welcome," she replied with a small smile. Spinning me around, she pushed me out the door.

"Tomorrow at six, in the gym. Be there." With a soft click, the door closed behind me.  
So that settled my daily routine for the next three hundred years. I had only one thing left to do.

I met Pepper on the way down to the kitchens and handed her the list.

"It'll be delivered to you by tonight," she promised.

"Thanks, Pepper," I beamed. Once she left I headed for the library, my beam dimming considerably. He was there, as I knew he would be. He'd taken quite the liking to Shakespeare and orange juice.

"What do you want?" he asked coolly. I folded my arms.

"I came to talk." He looked at me with slight impatience.

"Could we not talk some other time?" I shook my head.

"I'd rather talk now." He sighed and put Macbeth aside.

"Will you teach me?" I asked softly. He didn't answer at once.

"I tried, did I not?" he said loftily, "it is obvious you are utterly incompetent."

"I could be better if you help," I said, struggling to hold on to my temper. "Besides, you owe me."

"Owe you?" His eyes widened dramatically, "for what? This prison instead of one in Asgard? The curse that makes it physically painful for me to even teleport? The tracker on my ankle?" With every snarled question, he bore down on me, eyes blazing.

"I owe you nothing," he spat.

If it weren't for me he'd be rotting away in a cell, probably going insane. The arrogant, stuck up, pompous _jackass_. Suddenly I wasn't scared. I was _mad_. And when I was mad, my mind was _pretty fucking clear._ The orange juice hovered out of its glass.

"You owe me your _life_," I spat back.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki lay on his back, winded.

"Oh my God, _shit_, I'm sorry - oh God - I forgot you don't heal as fast anymore - oh my God-,"

He got up and blinked blearily. Something hot and wet trickled down his cheek. Louie kneeled beside him, eyes wide.

"I am so sorry," she whispered, her hand over her mouth. Loki glanced around. He was on the floor, his forearms covered with multiple, inch long cuts. Touching his face he winced. There was a fairly deep one on his face as well. They stung and, he realised, they smelled of orange juice. Which means... He gripped Louie's forearm tightly.

"Did you do this?" he asked urgently. She nodded, looking pained. He shook his head.

"Did you do this _on_ _purpose_?"

"Yes, she whispered "I'm sorry, I just got so mad..." Loki examined the scars once more. They were all exactly the same length and depth. He began to chuckle. Louie looked on, confused and shocked.

"Here," he touched her face. _Let_ _me_ _explain_. She gasped.

"I knew you were telepathic!"

* * *

_"I'm afraid Loki that jealousy is not something I can help you overcome. You will have to deal with it on your own." Thor turned to leave._

_I am not jealous Thor," came the quiet reply. Thor halted. Loki ran his hands through his hair,__frustrated._

_"I am angry, yes, at her incompetence But not jealous."_

_"You know she can't help it, Loki."_

"_Yes, I do know. Which is why I try so hard to get a rise out of her." Thor frowned._

"_What do you mean brother?" Loki smirked._

"_Anger is a wonderful motivator, Thor. The good Doctor could tell you the same."__Thor shook his head._

"_You want to bully a reaction out of her. That's a terrible plan."__Loki eyed him._

_"You have a better one in mind?"_

* * *

**A/N: **So I guess there was a method to Loki's madness.

Huh.  
Who'd have thunk. *flips hair*  
So, bridges are being mended, plans are being set. From here on out it will be a series of incidents that'll help build up the Loki-Louie love and their relationship with the Avengers. Stick around folks. The party's just getting started.

I'm sorry for not making the Asgard trip more exciting; I'll try to remedy that later on. Also, Odin is a right bastard is he not?:D I quite enjoyed bringing out the asshole in him.

Also, if any of you care to check it out, I posted my first ever Sherlock fanfic. If there are any fans here, go on, try it and see, and tell me in the review that Louie sent you there! :D  
(Self promotion ftw)  
Okay guys I'll see you next time. Leave a review if you want more. ;) Yes, this is blackmail, yes, I'm a horrible person. We established that when I made poor Louie risk getting exiled from all nine realms.

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note:** Hello my lovelies :)

Yes, I know, I'm so late. *flings myself at your feet* I'M SORRY. There is soooo much crazy in my life right now I barely had time to read, much less write.

I'll just move on to the reviews and then to the story then. Enjoy!

**Kykyxstandler: **Thank you so much :3 I'm glad you liked it, haha. Welllll, I don't want to spoil anything for you but to be honest, I'm as curious as you are. You see, this story is basically writing itself. No idea what these little buggers will get up to next.

**Queen Martha Pond: **Haha I'm glad you liked it :D I hope you enjoy this one!

**PiratePrincess16: **Thank you very much :D Well, here's the next chapter; I hope you stick around to see what happens to our favourite superheroes next!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

**Louie POV**

The pain was excruciating.  
I curled into the pillows and whimpered. Oh God, why. _Why_.

To add to the third world war that was obviously raging in my nether regions a sharp ringing was drilling its way through my eardrums and straight into my brain.

"Go away," I whimpered.

"Apologies Miss Louise, but its five-thirty a.m," Jarvis's cool British accent cut through the incessant ringing.

"_Five_ _thirty,_" I groaned, curling into myself even further, "why am I up at _five_ _thirty_?"

"Agent Romanoff programmed your daily schedule into my system Miss Louie. I have been attempting to wake you up since five am. You must get up to have your vitamins and prepare for your run." Run? What run? The only thing I ran for was first place in line for popcorn at the movies.

"Five more minutes," I said into my pillow. When there was no reply except for the ringing getting louder, I groaned.

"Okay. _Okay_," I mumbled. Half an hour later, I was sprinting for the elevator, orange juice in my hand. I didn't want to be late for my first day of training.

A certain green eyed god was already in the elevator, looking so perfectly put together I felt like screaming.

"Don't you ever look frazzled?" I snapped.

He looked up from his book - Richard III this time - surprised. Although this may have been because I used the word frazzled in every day conversation.

Oh, what would he know, I thought, sipping my juice grouchily.

"Good morning," he said carefully. In reply I simply grunted. He frowned and I felt a slight stab of guilt.

"Sorry," I muttered, "bad day." The elevator dinged and I followed Loki out into the gym.  
Steve waved from in front of the White-out Plan.

"Good morning?" he asked hesitantly looking back and forth between Loki's frosty gaze and my grouchy sipping.

"Mm," we both replied and narrowed our eyes at each other.

"Oookay," Steve rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Louie, we're going to start with a nice run, get you warmed up. Then we'll begin on some very basic defense techniques."

"Yes, sir," I replied downing my orange juice. Setting the glass down near Loki who had found himself a spot to lean on, I followed Steve to one end of the enormous gym.

"I've marked a trail around the city," he said, "but for today let's stick to the treadmill."  
I nodded.

"Let's do this."

Five minutes in, I was already regretting my words. There was a reason I despised running and that reason was very simple: I sucked at it.

My breath came in short puffs and I cursed every deity in the universe, but most specifically the one that was sitting at the opposite end of the large room, casually flipping through his novel.

"You really don't get out much, do you?" called Steve. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. I settled for glaring at him. He grinned back.

"I - hate - running," I gasped. At the other end of the room the god smirked. Dammit. Damn him and his telepathy. I couldn't give up. I refused to give him the satisfaction of my failure.

What seemed like eons later, Steve jumped off his treadmill, stretching and shaking his feet. I followed, almost sobbing in relief and squirming at the discomfort in my pants. Steve made me warm down a little before we moved further on in our lesson.

"Okay," he said once we'd moved to one of the exercise mats laid out on the floor. "At this point in time, you're definitely not going to be able to fight if a situation arises."

"Agreed," murmured Loki. I huffed.

"So," Steve gave Loki a warning look, "your best option is to flee. This is obviously where running comes in handy. You've got to build up stamina to be able to run for a long while. In the event of being unable to flee, you've got to learn to avoid and block, to make sure you can escape without getting killed or fatally injured." I nodded.

"Okay, put your hands up like this," he said holding his fists up. I mimicked him.

"Elbows in," he corrected. "Now, one situation is someone coming at you head on." He brought his arm around in an arc, as if attempting to punch me in slow motion. Instinctively my hand went up to stop him. Steve shook his head.

"No, when I try to hit you, lean back and try to grab my hand with _both_ hands. Obviously I'm physically stronger than you. Trying to block my attack with one hand will probably end up breaking your wrist. Try that again." He brought his hand in the same arc. I leaned back and grabbed his hand with both of mine. In turn, he used the captured hand to squeeze my wrist.

"Now what do you do?" he asked. "Think." I bit my lip. Okay. Instead of leaning back I leaned forward, elbows in, bending his arm at an odd angle. He nodded encouraging me to go on.

"Get out of my hold," he said. I kept pushing; sooner or later he'd have to let go. And he did.

"Good," he said with a grin. I beamed.

"Again." This time however, he was faster, and I jerked, my hold slipping a bit.  
The third time, I nailed it but Steve reminded me that his other hand was free. Two seconds later I stumbled back at the light shove he'd given me.

"It's never going to be easy," he said as we got back into position, "You've got to fight smart."

Two hours later I was bone tired but fairly proud of what I had learnt. Steve took me through all basic self defense moves and by the end of it I had gotten the hang of getting out of a chokehold and dodging a right hook. Steve was a good teacher, and by good, I mean downright sneaky. His adorable smile and encouraging words would get me through dodge upon dodge, irrespective of how long we'd go at it. He was so good at wheedling more and more out of me, pushing me to the limits without my knowledge, that I had no clue three hours had passed until a loud alarm signaled the end of the lesson.

"My time with you is up, soldier," he said. "Good work." I blinked, suddenly realising how tired I was.

Steve patted me on the back and headed for the elevator. I followed him, eager for a hot shower.

"Wait." I closed my eyes with a groan.

"Can't I take a break first?" In a flash Loki was blocking my path to freedom, towering a good ten inches over me. I sighed dejectedly.

"Fine." I walked back to the gym mat and flung myself down on one of them, wincing as the rubbery wet cloth touched my overheated skin. Ugh. Loki sat down too, cross legged and straight backed. He ran a hand through his hair, already frustrated with me. I scowled. Prick.

Loki exhaled.

"What you do," he began slowly, "it's something in your mind that does it."

"Funny, I had already figured that bit for myself." Loki hissed.

"If we're going to make this work, I'd keep the sarcasm to a minimum, mortal."

"Oh, but it's so easy," I whined, feeling a laugh build up in my stomach.

"As I was saying," he continued, ignoring me, "it's in your head. Think if it as… an invisible limb. And like all limbs, you must learn to consciously control it." Loki held his palm face up.

"I have studied this art for centuries. What I do is advanced; far beyond a mortal's capabilities. However, we all started somewhere. That somewhere is the control of the four elements in their purest form."

"Earth, fire, water and air," I murmured. Loki nodded.

"Indeed."

A small flame appeared in the centre of his palm. It flickered feebly. Loki shook his head.

"This is not my strong point. I create illusions, I work with telepathy. I am out of practice with the more basic of techniques. Also..." he trailed off, eyes darkening and rolled his shoulders.

I shifted uncomfortably, feeling slightly guilty about the enchantment that was sealing away his powers. Although it did make me thankful he couldn't flatten me with an energy bolt or whatever, it was obvious how uncomfortable he felt.

"Now," he said briskly, "Let's see what you can do." I nodded, sitting up straighter. Loki's voice dropped an octave or two, becoming soothing, hypnotic.

"Think of your powers lurking in your subconscious. Now, picture yourself pulling them out into your consciousness, of it becoming a tangible limb in the forefront of your mind." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to picture it.

_Pull it into the forefront of your mind_, he murmured in my head. I jumped, my eyes flying open. Stupid Norse god and his stupid chocolate voice in my stupid, stupid head.

Glaring, I tried again. I pictured an imaginary hand, searching though my head, pulling open doors and sifting through curtains of memories, searching for the mysterious one that held my so called powers.

I could almost feel it. Maybe I was subconsciously seeing things but it felt like there was something there. Trying to touch it was like trying to scoop up water in my hands; even my imaginary fingers couldn't hold it well.

"I think I got it," I murmured.

_Then make a flame appear._

I took a deep cleansing breath and thought back to the little flame that had appeared in Loki's hand. Holding my hand up, I focused on it. I pretended I could see it; first a little spark in the nothingness above my palm, then growing brighter, stronger, until it was a bright flame. I kept replaying it happening in my head, over and over.

And then, the most amazing thing happened.

Just the way I had pictured it, from a spark to a flame, fire hovered above my palm, the flame flickering merrily. I closed my hand into a fist. The fire disappeared without even burning me. I grinned, looking at Loki triumphantly.

He nodded his approval.

"Again."

* * *

Focus, breathe, open palm, focus breathe, close palm. Repeat.

"Can't I do something else now?" I asked a good hour later. Loki shook his head.

"Impatience is the biggest weakness of a human. Again." I sighed, frustrated.

Focus, breathe -

A flash of pain shot through my head and I yelped. Wind roared in my ears and everything went dark. For one dizzying moment, I thought I had fainted again, but as my vision came back, I realised it had all happened in a brief second. Loki clutched my shoulders, green eyes burning.

"I'm okay," I mumbled, looking away.

In reply Loki just stared. Cool fingers wrapped around my wrist and I jumped slightly.

"Wha-?" My palm was burnt, stinging red and aching when I moved my fingers. I winced. Well, at least it wasn't the same hand as the one with the purple fingers.

"I guess I lost focus, huh?"

"Of course," Loki snapped, "irresponsible child." I wilted a little under his stern gaze. But then, his hand closed over my wounded one. I stared at it in surprise, an unfamiliar tugging in my gut. His hand was cool and soothing on my sore palm, but also soft and warming up. It was like holding someone's hand after they'd been out in the snow - cold, yet adapting to the heat of your body.

Loki's hands were warm. I peeked at him from the corner or my eye. He wasn't looking at me; his eyes were focused on the entwined limbs before him. His hand was warm.

Too warm.

Much too warm.

I shifted uncomfortably, heart rate spiking. What was he doing?

He let go, raising his eyes to meet mine. I blinked. He seemed stunned, his mouth half open. I was suddenly drawn to exactly how attractive he looked. I raised an eyebrow, angry at my wayward thoughts.

"Healed," he said shortly leaning back. I stared at my smooth and unblemished palm, free of any mark whatsoever.

"How did you _do_ that?" Loki smirked, arrogance reappearing in full force.

"You have _got_ to teach me that."

"Maybe if you get past the basics. Maybe-"

"_Well maybe if you teach me the rest of the basics-_"

* * *

All in all, I thought hazily as I finally stumbled onto the elevator, Norse god in tow, it was a very productive day.

Loki was a cranky teacher, but in the end he was able to make me produce little candle-like flames at will and even make them float from my hands to his.

It was easy once I had the technique down.

Loki hadn't criticized me much, a sign I took to mean I had done okay. After a quick lunch, I had practice with Natasha.

She had traded in her catsuit for a simple training bra and shorts, her hair pulled back in tiny pigtails. I tugged on my tank top hem, feeling more than a little self conscious. And I was the one with my bellybutton covered.

Natasha took me through the ropes of offense and attacks, before beckoning me over. She placed a gun in my hand. I stared, wide eyed.

"Most people don't know that it's hard for a woman to shoot sometimes. The backlash makes you jerk, which screws up your shot. But these guns are light, small. Specifically SHIELD issued toys for trainees. We'll use these for a couple of weeks before moving on to bigger ones."

She taught me how to hold the gun properly, standing with my feet apart, using both hands to support my aim. To be honest, I wasn't all that great.

"Maybe long distance isn't my thing," I said when I missed the paper bulls-eye for the seventh time.

"It takes practice," said Natasha patiently. Once again she demonstrated. The lesson didn't leave me feeling too hopeful about my abilities with a gun.

"Well," I joked, "if nothing else works I'll just throw it at him and hope I clunk him on the head." Natasha's lips twitched in amusement before she frowned.

"You show that hand to Bruce yet?" I grinned sheepishly.

"I was getting to it," I said chuckling. I was a lying liar who lied and I was going to hell.

"You'll show him that. Soon," she said sternly. I saluted.

"Yes ma'am."

"Let's stop for today," she said checking her watch, "it's already seven."

"We've been at it for five hours?" I asked, amazed.

"Your hour-long bathroom break doesn't count."

"Hey, I got distracted. Mr. Darcy does that to you." We shared a knowing look. The allure of Mr. Darcy was understood by all women, forming common ground and thus, friendship even between silent assassins and geeky, unemployed freeloaders.

"So how was your lesson with Loki?" she asked as the elevator travelled upwards. I thought about the bickering, the frustrated looks and the muttered curses. But then the memory of a cool soothing hand and deep green eyes flooded into my head, almost warming every inch of me.

I grinned a little stupidly.

"It was okay." Natasha looked at me quickly.

"Hey, tomorrow is your day off, right?" I nodded.

"You think you could run an errand with me?"

"Does it involve guns?" I eyed her warily. Natasha grinned outright.

"Not unless a certain demigod really hates Manhattan street wear."

* * *

The demigod _really_ hated Manhattan street wear. Sunday morning brought on a lot of problems, including a headache and more cramps. I massaged my temples as Natasha explained the situation to Loki.

"I do not understand," said Loki scowling. "What is wrong with the clothes I wear now?" We sat in the giant living room, a couple of people flicking aimlessly through the TV channels and the rest just lounging around.

He looked to Thor who smiled at him sympathetically. The God of Thunder wore a plain t-shirt and jeans, his hair being pulled back into a neat ponytail by his girlfriend.  
Loki rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Brother, you know you would be arrested off the streets if you were to walk down them dressed like that. It would certainly help disguise you better if you changed your appearance."

"That would not have been a problem if my powers hadn't been taken away from me," said Loki bitterly. He shrugged slightly as if trying to shake off the enchanted seal.

"Whatever has happened has happened," I cut in before anyone could say anything. I was tired of the fighting. Clint was already ready and waiting to throw a punch and Tony looked like he just might cheer the archer on. Maybe even kickstart the fight.

"Right now the best course of action is to get you some ordinary clothes," I tilted my head, "maybe a haircut." Loki sneered.

"Come anywhere near my head and I'll take pleasure in slicing your hands as slowly and painfully as is in my power." I gulped.

"Just clothes then."

"This is a ridiculous waste of my time. Loki, if you ever want to get a chance to walk around the city, you're going to have to wear some pants and a shirt," said Natasha impatiently. Loki's eyes darkened.

"Do you think I am a mere dog to be put on a leash and walked once a day? I refuse to be put through further humiliation! Is my defeat, my imprisonment in this infernal building not enough for you?" Standing up so fast that his chair went skidding backwards, he stormed off.

Natasha groaned.

"Fury is going to murder me. We need him disguised. He was all over the news; people are bound to recognise him if he walks around like that."

Thor stood heavily.

"No wait," I blurted, "let me try." Thor looked surprised.

"Lady Louie-," he started, but I wasn't about to let him win this. I was also tired of him being at the end of Loki's rage when he was trying so hard to be a good brother. Also, I was pretty sure nobody wanted any god-shaped holes in the building.

"Come on," I coaxed, "he can't hurt me." Thor looked to Jane who nodded encouragingly.

"Very well," he sat back down.

Jane shot me a grateful look, like she knew exactly why I had volunteered.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Stupid, arrogant, foolish mortals. The absolute _nerve_\- Reaching his room he flung the door open and headed for the bathroom, gnashing his teeth. His body ached, ached for a break.

He hissed tiredly. Keeping up illusions was so difficult. Bit by bit he released the enchantment he had cast over his body, staring dully into the mirror above the sink.  
It was like watching himself age; his royal clothes showing patches and tears, his hair becoming more unkempt, dark shadows apparent above his eyes.

Gods. He was a mess. An insomniac, pathetic mess of a monster.

"You weren't kidding when you said illusions were your strong point, were you?"  
Loki swung around, horrified. Leaning against his bedroom door was Louie, blinking as she swept her eyes over him.

Loki got the nasty feeling she could see straight through him. Shame and anger welled up inside him. He smiled murderously.

"Congratulations," he said gesturing with a hand, "You're the first mortal to ever see me without a single illusion cast upon my body."

"I'm honoured," she replied. Her eyes never left him.

"This is the point at which you leave," he said, still smiling. Instead she crossed her arms.

"You get tired really fast trying to keep casting illusions don't you? I noticed during our lesson." Loki shook his head.

"This is none of your concern mortal."

"How long has it been since you had a good night's sleep?"

"You should leave now. I already told you I refuse to put on your ridiculous garments."

"Don't make me ask Jarvis."

"Oh, so you _do_ admit I am being watched in this room."

"You haven't slept at all have you?"

"I am losing my patience," he snapped, turning back to his pathetic reflection. Bit by bit he attempted to put his illusion back in place. He felt her move closer, waves of - he blinked - concern? - washing over him.

"You can keep making your face pretty with your illusions," she murmured, "but think of how much energy you will save if you just put on some new clothes." Loki grit his teeth.

"Loki," said Louie gently, "it's not a sign of weakness to admit you're tired." Loki didn't even want to know how she could read him so well. Ignoring her he continued his spell. Then, she touched his forearm. It was like it had been before, when her hand had gotten burnt and he had instinctively wanted to heal it; a warm burst of energy surged through him. He felt stronger, more alive. He pulled his arm back quickly, though his body screamed at the loss. He looked at his reflection. His illusion was in place in double time.  
He frowned.

Wait. This didn't feel like an illusion.

"I don't understand, " he murmured

"Understand what?" He looked at Louie, who was staring at him. Was he seeing things or was there a faint tinge of red on her cheeks?

He stared at his face. He attempted to take the illusion off. It simply faded off his clothes, leaving them looking sorry and sad. His face however, remained the same.  
There was no illusion.

Her magic had healed him.

He turned to her, angry and exasperated. The stupid girl did not even know what she had done.

_And now_, said a little voice in his head, _you owe her once more_.

He curled his lips into a tired smile.

"Okay." Louie blinked.

"Okay? Okay you'll come shopping with us?" He sneered.

"Don't make me repeat myself, mortal," he said pushing past her.

Louie didn't seem to care. Her face broken into a wide grin. Not for the first time, Loki was struck by how alluring her eyes were. "Awesome."

* * *

**A/N: **And there you have it. Stuff's finally on a roll!

I'm so excited to post the next chapter though, you guys I have a fabulous couple of Loki-Louie moments planned and I cant wait to type the whole thing out!

Anyway, yeah. I don't have anymore to say so I guess I'll call it a wrap!

Remember to leave a review! I love to hear your opinions :D

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

See you next time,

Much Love,

xo

P.S. Incidentally, did anyone see the third Age of Ultron trailer? If you didn't you should. I DIED.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:** *picks up bucket of fluff and sexual tension*

*dumps it onto this chapter*

Soz.

**Queen** **Martha** **Pond**: Well, if you love Loki Louie moments… EHEHEHE this chapter is definitely for you. Oh I'm glad you picked up on that! Yeah, Loki's super conflicted at this point in time. Let's see what happens shall we? Thanks for the review! :D

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Loki** **POV**

Loki tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Louie to change. Honestly, these Midgardians had the oddest collection of clothes, and not the prettiest, he thought wryly as Louie emerged from the bathroom. She pulled her hair into a scruffy pony tail.

"Okay, let's go," she said, tugging her sleeves down so they covered her fingers completely. As she did so, Loki noticed a flash of purple and blue. He frowned.

"Did you injure your fingers?" To his surprise, Louie went red.

"Er, no." Wordlessly, automatically, he held out a hand and then fought the urge to put in back down. Sighing and looking very much like a child caught doing something wrong, Louie held it out. He noticed that she didn't exactly put her hand in his but instead let it hover over his own. He grasped her fingers, examining them.

He looked up, slightly amused.

"Well someone was touching things that didn't belong to them." Louie's cheeks flushed an even brighter red.

"It was an accident - I swear - the lettering was just curvy - I thought maybe I'd just go through it - who even curses books?" she finished with a huff. Loki snorted.

"Lucky for you, it's just a simple spell. I assume energy surged through your arm?" Louie nodded.

"Damn near took my arm off."

"The marks will stay for a while but they will fade eventually. The whole purpose of the curse is to catch a thief red handed."

"Purple," she corrected. "Next time get your curse's colours right. Damn Loki, you have some serious trust issues." He had serious trust -? Suddenly it occurred to Loki that not a single Midgardian had the capability of jinxing books.

"When exactly did this happen?" he asked suspiciously, a nasty feeling bubbling in the pit of his stomach.

"I, ah-," she stuttered and trailed off, mumbling incoherently.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I got it when I was in Asgard," she said a little loudly and winced.

Asgard? But- how? The only people in the palace who would have known to cast spells were- Immediately he put two and two together.

"What exactly," he asked glowering, "were you doing in my room?"

* * *

**Natasha** **POV**

Natasha plucked the keys out of Tony's hand.

"I'll meet you outside in five," she said to Louie before heading to the elevator. She was impressed by Louie, she really was. Okay, so maybe she was more than a little crappy at shooting a gun but she certainly had balls. And a certainly irresistible quality, she supposed. Natasha wasn't the least bit surprised when Louie had reappeared with a certain Norse god in tow.

She did not however, thought Natasha wincing inwardly as she watched them walked towards the car, have any sense of style whatsoever.

Louie's outfit of the day consisted of the most appalling long sleeved shirt that looked like it belonged to three generations before her and shapeless black jeans. Her hair was in a tight ponytail once again and on her feet were ratty old sneakers.

Natasha sighed. Maybe she had two people to do shopping for today. Hmm. Maybe she would. She smiled secretly to herself as she fingered the SHIELD issued credit card in her pocket.

Loki, on the other hand looked a little more respectable, in a shirt and black suit pants which she assumed he had magicked up because _god_ damn did he look fine. They trailed behind Clint who led the way to the convertible, sunglasses already on, grim as a funeral. Natasha smiled sympathetically at him as he hopped in without opening the door, claiming shotgun.

"You didn't have to come you know," she said quietly. "I know you don't like being around him." Clint shook his head.

"I'm not leaving you alone with him." Natasha grinned, touched at the sweet gesture.

"For goodness _sake_," Louie snapped, "I wasn't doing anything! I just found it and I was curious-"

"Don't you Midgardians have some saying about curiosity? How it ah, _killed_ _the_ _cat_?"

"How was I supposed to know your stupid books were booby trapped?!"

"_Why were you even in my room_?!"

"I said I was sorry!" she threw her hands up in exasperation. "And now my hand is purple, thanks. Asshole." Loki's eye twitched a little.

"Maybe it will teach you not to go snooping around where you don't belong-"

"You're a horrible person-"

"I'm sorry I try to protect what belongs to me!"

"Your stupid spell dyed my hand fucking _purple and blue_! It'll never come off!"

"Oh, do stop being so dramatic mortal, I told you it will fade eventually-"

"Oh _I'm_ being dramatic. Hah! That's a riot!"

_Ah_, Natasha thought, amused. The mystery of the purple fingers was solved. Louie stomped over to the car, her cheeks flaming red with anger.

"Let's go," she said tightly, jerking her head at Loki. Loki took his time strolling over to the car, making Louie drum her fingers on her knee irritably. Natasha rolled her eyes. Children.

"Everything okay?" asked Clint. "Is he bothering you, Louie?" Louie jumped slightly and shook her head.

"No! No, Clint it's all good." Natasha's lips twitched again. Really, she was displaying her emotions way too much lately.

"Okay kids, buckle up. We're going shopping."

* * *

**Clint** **POV**

If there was one thing Clint knew about Natasha, it was that she treated everything like it was a mission. God, it was like the woman _lived_ to form a plan, decide on a strategy and execute it to the tee. It was the same with shopping.

She walked into every store with a determined expression on her face, a threatening one saved for sales assistants who crept up with an expression of devoted servitude and a glare to keep Loki in line. They were currently in shop number twelve, if Clint's count was right.

"Here," she said throwing a shirt in Loki's face. "Try this on."

"How about this one?" called Louie, holding up a green one. Natasha nodded approvingly. Loki stared at Louie with an expression that said _go ahead, throw that, I dare you_.

"Also this."

"Oh yes, _definitely_ that." Clint let the words waft over him. He thought they all looked the same anyway.

"Pick out a couple of pants and then let's get out of here," said Natasha. Louie nodded.

"Come on Loki," said Louie. "Let's get you measured for pants."

Natasha dropped into the plastic chair beside him as Loki trooped of behind Louie.

"You know," she said conversationally, "I thought Louie had a terrible sense of style, but really the only thing she sucks at dressing is herself. Lack of self confidence, I'll bet you my Widow's Bite."

"Natasha. I have no idea what you're talking about," said Clint dryly. Natasha sighed.

"Men." Clint grinned, tucking a curl behind her ear.

"Where to next?" he asked.

* * *

**Loki** **POV**

"Come on, you," said Louie, pulling Loki's sleeve. She ignored the look of contempt he gave her. "Let's find a sales assistant."

They found one, a small dainty looking Midgardian with a name tag that read Belinda. Belinda talked far too much for Loki's liking.

"Oh, you're so tall," she chattered away, her voice high and girlish, "I'm only five foot one, you're practically a giant…" Loki's heart almost dropped into his stomach at her words. Louie tugged on his shirtsleeve gently and raised an eyebrow questioningly. He shook his head.

"We love our tall men, don't we?" Louie said, smiling widely at Belinda.

"Oh yeah, one that can literally sweep you off your feet…" Belinda droned on and on and Louie kept smiling and nodding at what Loki assumed were the appropriate moments. Finally Loki felt himself being shoved in one direction by a Louie who was thanking Belinda profusely.

"Finally," she muttered rolling her eyes, her smile disappearing the minute Belinda and her mouth turned onto some other unsuspecting customer. Loki noted that he too was tall. Louie mimed shooting her blonde little head.

"_Sweep you off your feet_," she mimicked in a furious high pitched whisper, "just because she's small and cute – ugh, and what does she leave for us beanpoles?" she demanded of Loki, grabbing a couple of things off a rack, "Nothing! That's what! Come on, I see a dressing room. Let's try these on."

Louie shoved Loki and his faceful of clothes inside the square room, and pulled the curtain shut. A quick second later, she slid it open.

"Try on each one and show them to me," she said. Loki gaped.

"All - all of them?"

"Yes, genius. All of them. Try the shirts on first." With that she drew the curtain back firmly. Loki pulled off his shirt, a little irritated at her bossiness. He paused to take a look at his bare back. There, under his shoulders blades was the seal, a black intricate tattoo spreading from one shoulder to another. One wrong move and that seal would work its way all over his body, strapping his limbs to his sides and burning him from the inside. It still ached sometimes, although it wasn't too bad today. He stared at his face in distaste.

_Frost giant._

_Monster_.

"Are you- oh! Sorry." In a flash of frizzy mane, Louie disappeared. Loki rolled his eyes and shrugged on one shirt. He frowned. Buttons. There were far too many buttons. Patiently he attempted to do them, cursing every now and then when the fiddly little things slipped right through his fingers.

"You okay in there?"

He managed a strangled, "Fine, mortal," as he put the last button in place under his chin. Somehow it didn't quite feel like the clothes he had magicked on for the trip.

"Louise," he sighed. "Help me." She entered, her eyes downcast before they flicked up quickly and shot back down. Shyly, she peeked upwards again. Her lips twitched. He settled for putting his hands on his hips and glaring.

"You, ah, buttoned it wrong," she said, her fingers covering her smile. He looked at his reflection once again.

"You mean to tell me there is no extra button at the top?" he asked curiously. Louie chuckled.

"No, your highness. Here. Allow me."

Pushing him backwards gently, she unbuttoned the shirt, her lower lip almost invisible as she pressed them together. Loki felt his cheeks heating up as her fingers undid the last button under his chin. Briskly she tugged down the shirt, straightening it out and began buttoning it again. She left the top button off, a gesture Loki was secretly thankful for.

"There," she said cheerfully, smoothing the material over his shoulders. They both turned to look at the reflection.

"Not bad," she said approvingly. "Not bad at all. You sure you don't want a haircut?"

"What's wrong with my hair?"

"It's too long. You're Loki of Asgard, not Tarzan of the Jungle." Loki blinked, not understanding the reference. Louie waved her hand.

"Never mind, I'll show you the movie later. But first, that hair has got to go." Loki crossed his arms.

"Mortal, I refuse to cut my hair." Louie sighed.

"Do you want to blend in or not?"

"I believe that was primarily your concern, not mine. So no."

"Good point. Do you want Natasha off your back or not?" Loki paused. It was true, the Black Widow was a menace. Plus, defying Romanoff meant Loki had to defy Barton and he _really_ didn't want to do that.

"I don't see why I have to cut my hair to get Agent Romanoff off my back."

"Because," said Louie patiently, "it's too conspicuous. She'll keep asking you to cut it. You're striking enough with your good looks so you'll turn heads. Did you see the way Blonde Belinda drooled all over you? There are chances people may recognise your with your beautiful raven locks." Loki was a little amused at how casually she threw out a compliment and managed to twist it into a sarcastic barb.

Louie seemed to think his silence meant he was contemplating the idea. Her voice turned wheedling.

"Look, I'm not even saying you should chop it all off. Maybe just shorten it up to your neck. I can just picture you now with short hair-," she cut off quickly, frowning. Loki tilted his head, waiting for her to go on.

"Anyway," she waved her hand, abruptly changing the subject, "we'll get a bunch if these and some t-shirts. Now, I'm going to go so you can try on the pants. Or do you want help with that too?" she added, her eyes twinkling.

"Out," he said looking heavenward.

So maybe he struggled with the button again, he reasoned, but this time it was just one.

* * *

**Louie** **POV**

Loki was surprisingly compliant during the entirety of the shopping trip. After a drive in angry silence, we had to be nice to each other because Natasha asked (threatened) us to do so. Also, I couldn't hold a grudge to save my life and I ended up breaking the silence anyway.

Now, on the way home it took all of my self control not to bury my face in my hands because Loki of Asgard was undeniably the most attractive thing I have ever met in my life.

My mind flashed back to the dressing room, buttoning up his shirt and seeing the flat plane of his stomach beneath, smoothing out the soft fabric and feeling the lean muscles under my palm. My mouth went a little dry at the thought.

Stop, _stop_! What if he's reading your mind right now, hmm? I flushed at the thought. I glanced at the Asgardian in question. He was looking straight ahead as the car purred its way through the city streets.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I asked wryly. He didn't reply immediately, although he opened his mouth several times like he was trying hard to form words.

Finally -

"I have decided," he said stiffly, "perhaps I will let you cut my hair."

Was it just me or had Natasha just giggled?

* * *

"If it does not look good, mortal, I will make you pay," he said menacingly. I waved aside the threat like it was nothing. It had been a couple of weeks since we bought out half the mall and it had been a pretty successful trip. Maybe a little too successful, because whenever I went out for my morning run with Steve and Loki followed, half the health conscious population (male or female) of Manhattan would salivate over the man. It was annoying and, as Steve said, highly risky. Sooner or later someone would recognise him. So after days of putting it off, I was finally forced to actually cut poor Loki's hair. The god looked like he was regretting his decision to let me do this very, very much.

"Trust me. I know what I'm doing." He snorted disbelievingly.

"Well, on the plus side, if I get it wrong you can fix it with magic," I said wryly. Loki huffed. I pointed to the edge of the bed.

"Sit." Loki sat. I disappeared into the bathroom for a minute or two before reappearing with a pair of scissors, a comb and a large white towel. Loki eyed the sharp scissor warily.

"Don't worry," I said more cheerfully than I felt. "I've done this before. Sure it's been a while," I eyed my own waist length, bushy mane. "But I think I remember."

"That comforts me, it really does." His sarcasm earned him a snap on the shoulder with the towel. He glowered but I just rolled my eyes at him. Couple of days stuck with him and you get used to the death stares. Even grow attached to them, really.

Draping the towel around his shoulders, I picked up the scissors and comb and paused, suddenly at a loss. How short _could_ I cut his hair? It had to be much shorter to pass off as ordinary, but I didn't want to chop it all off. Running my fingers through the silky stuff would always be so very, very tempting… I blushed at the thought and shook my head. Okay, focus.

Slowly, hesitantly I approached. Loki sat on the corner of the bed, his knees apart and elbows resting on them. He glared at me.

"If you don't watch out, your face will freeze that way." His scowl deepened. Swallowing, I moved to the corner. His thigh was almost brushing against my leg.

"Okay, I'll start with the back. Sit straight." Carefully, I combed a lock of hair and with my fingers, marking off the limit.

"This seems about right," I murmured. Loki grunted. Holding the lock steady, I snipped off the rest. Now his hair was short enough for the back of his smooth, pale neck to be visible. Taking a deep breath and praying to god he wouldn't kill me, I set to work. Minutes passed in silence, the only sound being the scissors snip-snipping away and the creak of bedsprings as we readjusted on the bed.

Soon enough, the back was done, and I moved on to the sides. Carefully, I leveled the hair near his ears, and combed it down to reveal any stray ends. Once this was done, all that was left was a little bit in front. I stepped back for a moment and rolled my shoulders. I grinned at the sight of the short hair with only two thick locks in the front at their original length.

My smile faded as my eyes met Loki's. He was looking at me curiously, his green eyes shimmering. I gulped. Something about that look made my stomach do funny things. I cleared my throat, trying to speak normally.

"Just a little bit left." My voice seemed higher to my own ears. I winced.

"So to do this bit I have to-," I laughed nervously as I stepped in between his knees. His eyes widened. Swallowing again, I took the locks in my hand and snipped them down to size.

_Ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, _I chanted silently as I finished off.

"There," I said brightly a moment later. "All done." Tilting my head back I observed the final product. His hair was now much shorter, brushing against his jaw line.

"For the finishing touch," I said dramatically and whipped the towel off his shoulders before running my fingers through his hair, slicking it back. He leaned back a little at the motion, eyes still boring into mine. I ran my fingers through his hair again, slower, slightly massaging his scalp as I did so.

His eyes slid shut and he exhaled slowly. I did it again, and again. A small groan escaped him. I gasped a little, almost chuckling. What were we _doing_? The same thought seemed to occur to Loki because his eyes shot open, dark pools of green that burned into mine. His lips parted slightly and a thrill of excitement shot through me.

It would be so easy to lean forward and press my lips against his. So very easy. I wondered how good a kisser he was.

Probably very good, said a small voice in my head. He was a god, he had had centuries to practice... Wait. Reality crashed into me like a speeding car. He was a _god_. This was _Loki_, God of _Mischief_. What was I _thinking_? Blinking rapidly, I snatched my hand out of his soft hair.

"There," I repeated. My voice was still doing that funny high pitched thing. "All done." Loki blinked too, like he was coming out of a trance.

"Wanna see?" I might as well be a chipmunk; my voice was so high. Without waiting for an answer, I pulled him up and pushed him into the bathroom. Nervously I bit my lip as he narrowed his eyes at his reflection. After a painfully long moment, his mouth tilted upwards. I relaxed.

"Thank you," he said tilting his head.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all." I said sending a private prayer of thanks to the deity that had heard me.

"Indeed." I fixed my eyes firmly onto the wall, knowing he was staring at me.

"Louie!" Darcy's voice floated through the room. "Where are- oh, there you are. Natasha was looking for - whoa." She stopped and stared at Loki who stared right back. His eyes dared her to speak.

Darcy didn't disappoint. She gave him a slow once over, from the top of his newly cut hair, to the fitted green t shirt he wore, to the long black pants and bare feet. "Wow, Rudolph, you really do clean up good. Nice job, Louie." I grinned my thanks and shot Loki a quick wink. Tentatively, he smiled back at Darcy. I beamed. Nice to know he was becoming a tad more social.

Darcy was still looking at Loki in approval. I clicked my fingers in front of her face.

"You were saying, Darcy?"

"Oh! Yeah, Natasha was looking for you. Something about your lessons." I nodded.

"I'll go find her," I said and turned to Loki. "I'll see you in a bit then?" Phew. No more chipmunk voice.

"The library. Three hours."

_Yes, Sir, _I replied and watched him head off for the elevator. I could tell by the way his back stiffened that my telepathic message had gone through. I smirked.

"He kinda grows on you doesn't he? Who would have thought we'd be able to live under the same roof with him?" said Darcy. I nodded slowly.

"Seriously though." Darcy looked at me, "he's actually more bearable when you're around." I shrugged, feeling a little pleased. Our gazes followed his fantastic rear end into the elevator, until a loud "LOUIE!" from somewhere within the tower sent us scurrying away.

* * *

**Loki POV**

What just happened? Loki rubbed his face furiously. What had just _happened_? What was that? Loki didn't know where to begin forming coherent thoughts. She was - distracting. A mystery. Irritating. But –

"I saw that, Reindeer Games," a voice filtered through the library. Tony strolled towards him, apple in hand and a grin stretching from ear to ear. "A little longer and you'd have been at it like rabbits." Loki didn't reply. Tony bit into his apple, chewing slowly.

"We all like Louie," he said abruptly. "She's a good kid. Helpful. Probably the only normal superhero around."

"Your point being?" Tony shrugged.

"You mess with her and I'll kill you. And so will Bruce, Steve, Clint and Natasha. And three other angry women you do _not_ want to see in a flying temper. I can't vouch for your brother but I'm pretty sure he won't stand by idling either. So unless you want the entire building coming down on your head, you better watch what you do."

Loki shook his head and even managed a laugh.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Tony snorted.

"Right." Taking another bite of apple, he spun on his heel and left.

Putting his hand in his face Loki swore. That girl - that girl was trouble. Then why, _why_ was he okay with getting into some?

He thought if the way she pursed her lips in concentration, her quiet smile of triumph as she conquered a particularly stubborn stray end and her clear brown eyes. And when she had stepped in between his knees, his head level with the hollow of her collarbone... his stomach clenched. He exhaled. No. _No_.

He was just deprived, that was all. In the past few years, he had done nothing to satisfy his ah, _urges,_ and now he was paying the price by being attracted to some - _Midgardian_. He clenched his teeth. This was ridiculous. Maybe he should speak to his brother about getting a wench.

No, he contemplated, that would be too humiliating. And besides, Thor's type wasn't his type. Thor preferred tiny, breakable, delicate things. Loki thought he had too, but now found he would rather it was someone with more height and curve and incredible brown eyes -

Oh _Hel_.

* * *

**A/N**: Really you guys, I had no idea this was going to happen I just put them in a room together and they end up having sizzling chemistry I mean sheesh what can you do. Damn, I may have to change the rating lol.

I don't think that Nat is a particularly feminine character, but TWS did give her a more emotional and sensitive side so I decided to wing it and make her a little less silent in this chapter. Sorry if it got a bit ooc.

Also, now, don't go thinking I'm changing the Norse god we all know and love by putting away his armour and chopping off his hair – I have good reason to do so – it's more of a 'reverting to a younger, more vulnerable person' kind of idea that was swimming in my head. Did I manage to get that across?

Heyyy, we passed 40 followers! :D *hands out chocolate* I'm so happy that this many people are actually interested in this story :')

Also, COME ON YOU GUYS, ONLY ONE REVIEW FOR THE LAST CHAPTER? D:

I'm so sad *sniffs*

Anyway, I hoped you liked this chappie :3 DO leave a review if you did, please I love hearing from you.

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time!

Much love,

xo


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Hello there! God, it's good to be back. Apologies for the loooong wait but what with work and lectures and exams, things are crazy around here! Anyway, here it is! Ookay y'all, in my opinion this is a pretty important chapter, and you'll see why further in. I slaved over it, haha and I think it is damn near perfect. (Except for the spelling mistakes, I guess. Losses of not being beta'd)

First off, to reply to the reviews!

**QueenMarthaPond: **Yeah, I really really wanted to give Natasha a break considering how I turned her into a bit of a priss for the first few chappies xD Thanks so much for your review! I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait!

**Guest: **Guest! We meet again! Thank you so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! :)

There now. Okay folks, happy reading!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

**Louie POV**

"Pass me my pen, would you?" said Bruce, squinting at the report in his hand.

"Uh, Bruce?"

"Hmm?" I sighed, reached over the table and plucked the pen from behind his ear. He blinked owlishly.

"Oh."

"Oh," I repeated, amused. He grinned sheepishly and went back to work. I looked down at my own reports. Really, Tony's handwriting was the worst. Rubbing my forehead I set to work.

It was a quiet Thursday, and I had just an hour or two more before my lessons with Loki. Clint and Natasha were off on some mission so I didn't have training with them in the evening.

"Hey Louie, Brucie." Darcy waltzed in and dropped into a stool at the table. I waved a report at her in welcome.

"Loki's looking for you," she said to me. I groaned.

"But I have two hours before I have to meet him."

"I don't think a couple of hours matters to a god that's several centuries old," mumbled Bruce. Darcy nodded in agreement. I scowled at them both. It's not that I didn't enjoy my lessons; it was just that Loki had my nose to the grindstone from start to finish. It was exhausting. There was also that little incident that happened when I cut his hair that made me want to bury my face in my hands every time I saw him.

Darcy picked up a report and peered at it.

"How do you even know what this says?" she asked, pointing. "And look at this. Does that say _Buttplug_?" I snorted.

"Probably not, but with Tony, you can never tell." Darcy snickered.

We worked quietly for a while, with only an occasional giggle from Darcy who found words like _Tentacle Porn_ and _McDildo_ in the mess of words. I'd say the girl has a talent for it.

In the end, we were all poring over Tony's notes playing Spot-The-Perve-Word when the man himself walked in.

"Actually, I think that one just says McDonalds," said Bruce, pointing it out.

"That makes more sense than McDildo," agreed Darcy nodding.

"I was hungry," shrugged Tony. "Oh hey, Louie, Loki's looking for you."

"I know," I grumbled, "I'm hiding."

"Louie can't stand to be around Loki after his haircut," said Darcy slyly. I felt my face heat up and narrowed my eyes at her.

"Is that true?" asked Tony, eyes twinkling.

"Is not," I snapped, flicking a pen at Darcy.

"Is too," she countered, flicking it back. My ninja reflexes kicked in and I batted it away, making it hit Bruce on the ear.

"Children, please," he sighed, "I'm working."

"Yeah, you kids aren't allowed in the lab. Get," said Tony, "Daddy-O and I have work to do."

"Work," said Darcy, winking at me.

"You're a twelve year old," I said grinning. Tony made shooing motions with his hands and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, mother, we're going."

"Don't forget to be safe," said Darcy smirking. Tony huffed and slid the glass door close. Chuckling, we made our way back upstairs.

"I suppose I should find Loki," I sighed as the elevator travelled upwards. Darcy nodded.

"I have to meet Steve."

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," I said eyeing her smugly. _Hah, who's got who now?_ Although unlike me, Darcy was much better at handling the situation. She winked back.

"I'm getting him up to date on this century," she said with a smile. The elevator dinged and slid open but I didn't walk out.

"That's real nice of you, Darce," I said. Darcy looked a little pleased with herself.

"Everyone around here is doing something important. I thought I might make myself useful. It's not as easy as it sounds," she said with a laugh, "do you realise how underrated instruction manuals are? They're a godsend to me! Steve asks so many questions I can hardly keep up."

"Well, I can relate to the feeling of babysitting a clueless adult," I said laughing wryly.

"Take him out sometimes," said Darcy as we parted ways. "Make him watch a movie or two. After all, he will be hanging around for quite a while." I waved good bye to Darcy and headed for the library. It was unfortunately, as she said, just easier said than done. Loki wasn't exactly an eager beaver when it came to learning about Midgardian customs.

"You're late," he said coolly, narrowing his eyes. I gulped, looking him over. He was wearing a white shirt today, and black pants. On his feet were his boots from Asgard. Why was he so _attractive_? It was maddening!

"You're cranky," I replied flippantly, hoping my lapse in concentration wasn't too noticeable.

"Because," he said calmly, "you're late."

"Fashionably so," I replied cheerfully. He frowned, turning away. What was up with him?

"So," I said, clapping my hands together, "what are we doing today?" Loki flexed his fingers.

"I was thinking we'd move into a different element." He brought out my old enemy, the water bowl.

"You're going backwards, strangely. You mastered the more difficult element first. Now, an easier one," Loki grinned wickedly.

"Think fast."

He flung water straight into the bookshelves. I gasped, lurching forward.

_Stop!_

The water hovered at once. Loki nodded approvingly. The demigod spent the rest of the day teaching me how to manipulate water into different shapes and forms.

"This is, by far, the coolest thing you've ever taught me," I said in wonder, twirling an icicle in my hand, "I feel a little bit like Elsa."

Loki knew who Elsa was; he was watching the Disney channel two days ago while pretending to be rifling through a book.

"Hm," he said noncommittally. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I made the water change form. A cube, a square, a prism… An idea flashed into my head and I rushed to the window.

"Look at this, Loki," I said and held the prism into the sunlight. The colours of the rainbow shimmered through and I laughed in delight.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki watched as Louie whooped, twirling the water around. The girl had come quite far. She was mastering techniques - albeit really simple ones- at a rate of several a day. It was merely the basics; nothing that could be useful in battle, but nevertheless, she was a quick learner. Loki was sure she'd be able to learn more difficult tricks soon enough. She grinned, finally bringing the water to rest back in its bowl.

"Just like parking a car," she said.

Her aura was thriving, Loki could tell, giving off waves and waves of confidence and happiness. She was such a child sometimes.

"What next?" She asked excitedly.

"Nothing, for today," said Loki amused. "You have done enough." Louie made a little flame appear and then made it hover over water.

"I would like to speak to Stark," said Loki. "I believe it's time we trained in a bigger arena."

* * *

**Louie POV**

"Tony!" I called bounding down the hall. I was so excited I could hardly think straight. I was going to learn how to fight with my abilities!

"How far will I be able to use my powers?" I asked Loki who strolled along beside me. Even with me walking twice as fast, he could keep up.

"To be honest, not very far," said Loki, glancing at me briefly. His lips curled into a smile, "but you will learn. First, you have more basics to master but I have confidence that you can do it in a few days." I felt a rush of pride at that. Loki smirked knowingly.

"Don't let it get to your head, mortal."

"How do you do that?" I asked curiously.

"Well it's easy, I just lift my lips-"

"Not that," I said, rolling my eyes, "I meant how do you know what I'm thinking even though I can't feel you in my head?" Loki looked surprised.

"You know when I speak to you telepathically? You feel my presence?"

"Well, yeah," I frowned, "doesn't everyone?" Loki shook his head, bemused.

"Perhaps that's another path we can go down during our lessons," he murmured, mostly to himself.

"So how do you do it?" I prodded. He frowned, but not like he was annoyed. More like he was trying to phrase something.

"I feel your aura," he said slowly.

"I have an aura?"

"Everyone has an aura. That's nothing new. But yours is so… powerful. Strong. Almost a tangible thing around you."

"Is that how you came looking for me here?" Loki nodded.

"It's an unbelievably strong essence," he said, eyes raking over me. I ignored the little flip flop in my stomach. "It has... a flavour… a touch. It is hard to explain but that thing, whatever it is, it changes as your emotions change."

"So," I said, "you can tell what I'm feeling?" Loki nodded.

"Oh, wonderful," I mumbled. I was going to have to be more careful about what I thought around him.

"And you?"

"I know when you're in my head," I said tapping my temple. "It's just like you said. I feel a presence. And I know it's you." I left out the little bit about how it was a comforting presence, and how, if I closed my eyes, that presence took on a hue of emerald green. I didn't realise we had arrived at the labs until Loki slid the door open.

"Tony," I called. Bruce looked up.

"Tony left a while back," he said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Perhaps he's with my brother, training." I nodded. I looked at Bruce - he looked exhausted.

"Bruce?" I said carefully, "are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," he waved his hand, "Just running on an empty stomach. I'm nearing a breakthrough and I don't want to stop." I moved forward while Loki walked around, eyeing everything as he passed by.

"Do you want me to bring you something to eat?" Bruce stood, shaking a little. I frowned.

"Bruce? Are you sure you're okay?" He nodded.

"I think I just need a little fresh air," he said breathing deeply.

"Doctor Banner," said Loki, "why is that screen flashing?"

"What screen-? Oh no," Bruce paled.

Almost immediately, the doors slid shut, and an alarm rang out in warning, horns blaring and red lights flashing.

"What's going on?" I yelled, "_Loki!_ What did you do?"

"I did nothing!" he said looking outraged.

"The lab is on automatic lockdown," said Bruce, pulling on the door handle and looking rather ill, "it means there's an intruder in the building. This is bad."

"Okay, let's all be calm," I said, immediately panicking. There was only one exit from the lab - the glass doors that were sealed shut. The others were out there. Were they safe? What if they were fighting the intruders?

"Jarvis?" I called. There was no answer. Fear spread through my mind. _Shit_. Bruce banged on the door.

"Help!" he yelled. I spun around.

"We need to get out, we need to help the others. Do you think you can blast the thing open?" I asked Loki. He swallowed, his eyes on the doctor.

"We're in an enclosed space, Louise. I think we have bigger problems right now. Much bigger."

I wheeled around, realisation hitting me like a two ton truck. Oh shit. _Bruce_.

"No, no, no," said Bruce frantically, banging on the locked down door, "No, we don't like closed spaces, no, no -"

"Bruce," I interrupted, "Bruce, _calm down_. Please, Bruce, come on you can't let him out now, not in here-"

"You think I have a _CHOICE_?!" I jumped back as the doctor's eyes flashed green and his voice morphed into a roar.

"Okay, okay," I soothed. I looked at Loki frantically. "We need to get him down to the safe rooms."

"Easier said than done," said Loki, rattling the doorknob himself.

Ohh, God, oh God.

Bruce roared, his skin beginning to take on a green tinge. Loki wheeled around and pulled me backwards and stood in front of me. The demigod looked four shades paler.

"Stay back," he cautioned.

"But," I looked at Bruce, "shouldn't we be helping? Is he hurting?"

"Are you mad?" Loki demanded. I opened my mouth to reply but a roar drowned it out, louder than the incessant ringing of the alarm.

I have to say, the Hulk was more menacing under the light of the flashing red alarms than I could have imagined.

He turned around, shreds of his shirt falling off in tatters and let out another horrendous roar. He was looking right at us.

_If we don't move_, I said, _will he not see us?_

"I doubt it," replied Loki out loud. His eyes widened fractionally. "_Move_!" The Hulk raised his hand and swung it towards us. One push and I went flying, and so did Loki, in the other direction.

"Loki!" I yelled, terrified. "Oh God, oh _fuck_, oh my God. He took a hit for me the fucking idiot, he doesn't heal fast enough-"

Loki stirred feebly. With a roar, the Hulk picked up Loki by his leg. No, no, _no_.

"HEY! YOU!" I said sprinting forward as the Hulk raised Loki above his head. Big, green eyes swiveled to me.

"Oh, I got your attention did I? You put him down!"

"**RIAAARRRRHHHGHHH**!" The noise was deafening.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" I yelled back. The Hulk raised Loki's limp form even higher.

"_No_, I didn't mean it _that_ way!" I shrieked, clutching my head. He looked at me, his brick like teeth showing in an angry snarl.

Okay, new tactic Louie. Don't lose his attention, don't get him madder than he is. I took a deep breath, calming myself.

"Hey now, what's gotten you so ticked off?" I asked gently. The alarm had stopped, I noticed. Maybe that meant help was on the way. I only had to stall him for a little bit. Right? He snarled.

It's just Bruce in there, I reminded myself, he's a part of Bruce. Bruce would never hurt me. What would Bruce do in this situation? A million thoughts ran through my head. Bruce, the fed up nanny, Bruce, the reluctant eater, Bruce, our peacemaker, our referee, our negotiator –

"That's it," I whispered to myself, eyes widening. Without breaking eye contact, I smiled.

"He's fun to throw around, isn't he?" I said easily and held my breath.

"**Hhrrnmph.**" To my shock, the Hulk nodded in agreement. I licked my lips nervously.

"But you see, you can't throw him around like that," I explained, walking forward. He was literally so big I could probably curl up on him and go to sleep. He was hunched too, because the ceiling wasn't high enough for him to stand straight.

He looked at me curiously as if to ask why.

"Well," I said, wiping my palms on my thighs, "he's not as powerful as he used to be. So if you hurt him, he'll get wounded very, very badly. You might even kill him." The big guy didn't seem to like the sound of that. Eyes widening, he moved backwards, growling.

"Hey, hey," I said soothingly, "he's not killed yet. Can I take a look at him? Will you let me?" The Hulk frowned and dangled the god in front if me.

"It would be easier if you let him down. _Gently_." Lowering Loki until his head brushed the floor, the big guy dropped him. I winced at the sickening thud it made.

"We're going to have to work on that." Gently, I tapped Loki's face.

"Loki?" He groaned and opened his eyes.

"Louie!" he gasped, trying to sit up.

"Calm down, it's okay," I said quietly, "are you hurt?"

"Ribs," he rasped, eyes squeezed shut, "and head." I prodded his skull gently and he winced.

"Just lie down," I cautioned. Where the hell was help? I propped his head on my lap, chewing my lip worriedly. The Hulk growled softly.

"You stop that," I chastised softly, narrowing my eyes.

"**Rrrraaaghh**." He was twisting and turning, breaking tables and knocking over books and papers. He needed a way out. I couldn't let him tear down the building. I sighed.

"Sit," I said, patting the floor beside me. "You'll hurt your back hunching over like that." The Hulk didn't look like he was going to listen. He opened his mouth and took in a deep breath.

"_WELL,_ _SOMETIMES I GO OUT_," I interrupted loudly, "_BY MYSELF_."

The element of surprise always works well. The Hulk gaped, deflating like a balloon. On my lap, Loki shifted. Weakly, he spoke in my mind.

_You are mad._

I ignored him. Throwing the big guy a wide smile, I continued to sing.

"Oh, won't you come in home, where my body's been a mess? And I miss your ginger hair and the way you like to dress-" With a horrible crunching sound, the big guy sat, eyes watching me curiously.

Smiling, I sang to the Hulk, stroking Loki's hair softly. Strangely enough, the Hulk seemed to like my singing. He stared on and on, until suddenly I didn't see a big, green rage machine, I saw a giant toddler in a rather becoming shade of green.

He harrumphed when I stopped singing so I picked another song. And then another. And another. Once the last chords of Annie's song faded into the silence of the battered lab, I paused. Loki sat up slowly and the Hulk let out a low rumble. He got up, head brushing against the ceiling.

"It's okay," I said gently. "He's a friend." Loki looked at me sharply and the big guy cocked his head.

I placed a hand on my chest. "I'm Louie." I pointed at Loki, "this is Loki."

The Hulk shuffled backwards, looking around. Noticing the now quiet red alarm, he reached out and ripped it clean out the ceiling. Loki and I winced.

"Perhaps you should sing to him again?" whispered Loki.

"**Bruce lab?**" We both froze.

"Did he just-?"

"**BRUCE LAB?!**"

"Yeah. Yes!" I moved forward, tipping my chin up in wonder. He could talk. _He could talk_. He looked down at me and pointed at himself.

"**Hulk**." I couldn't help it, my face broke out in a wide smile.

"Hello, Hulk." Hulk shuffled his feet. It was almost as if he were being shy.

Footsteps thundered down the hallway.

"Louie! Bruce!"

"Loki!"

"Oh good," I said rolling my eyes, "the cavalry is here." Hulk didn't seem to like the sound of that. He let out a deafening roar.

"Hey, it's okay," I said patting his thigh soothingly, "they're friends. Friends."

"**Bruce friends?**" Hulk asked, shifting around nervously.

"Yes, Bruce's friends," I said, nodding.

"Oh, Jesus," said someone.

"No," I corrected, "it's Hulk."

"My lab," another voice moaned pitifully. I glanced back to see Tony looking rather ill.

"They're friends," I reassured Hulk. Hulk nodded and looked straight at Tony.

"**Yes**."

"Oh, _Jesus_!"

"Did he just _talk_?" Hulk growled menacingly.

"Stop that, all of you," I snapped, glaring. "You're making him nervous. He's claustrophobic enough as it is." Tony blinked and exchanged glances with Natasha and Clint. Pepper and Darcy peered out from behind Thor.

"Hey, big guy," I said gently, "you think you can let Bruce back out for a bit? I think Tony would like to save the rest of his lab." Hulk looked around sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"**I break again**."

And in that moment I knew he'd stolen my heart.

"Oh, but you didn't mean to," I said swallowing back a sudden wave of emotion.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," muttered Loki, eyes on the crackling wires that were once attached to an alarm.

"Hulk," I said gently, ignoring him, "d'you think you could let Bruce out for a bit? I'll tell him to take you out for a run after we get out of here." Hulk frowned.

"**You lie**?" My heart clenched.

"Of course not," I said quietly. "Never to you." Hulk paused, staring before finally nodding in agreement.

"I'll see you again. Promise," I assured him.

Hulk nodded again, this time more confidently.

"**Okay**."

* * *

**Bruce POV**

When Bruce opened his eyes, he was lying on the lab floor with several people leaning over him.

"There he is," said Tony, looking relieved. "Nice to have you back, Doc." Bruce sat up, groaning.

"Here," said Tony, handing him a pair of pants. Quickly, he tugged them on.

"What happened just then?" asked Tony quietly, "I thought you and the big guy had come to an agreement."

"You never told us he could talk," accused Clint, looking at him in awe. Bruce looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, in his defense," quipped Louie, "you never gave him the chance." Bruce looked around at the lab and opened his mouth to apologize but Louie beat him to it.

"Don't," she said, "Hulk already apologized."

"He _what_?" Louie nodded.

_**Henh**_, came a low rumble in his head.

"Huh. Well," he rubbed the back if his neck, wincing. Why did it ache so? "It's my fault. I didn't eat and I didn't let him out like I'd promised. It was getting pretty loud in my head, and when the lab locked down, he kind of stopped listening to me."

"Well, let this be a lesson," muttered Tony, cataloguing the damage. Bruce felt a stab of guilt once more.

"Tony-," Tony waved off his apologies with a grin. "Relax, Brucie, this lab has seen worse."

"Come on Bruce," said Natasha, "let's get you something to eat and get you into bed." Bruce nodded, thankful for the escape route. He kept quiet, trying to grasp what has happened. The memories were faint, vague. On the way upstairs they ran into Steve and Darcy.

"We got the news and came as soon as we could," said Steve, "what happened?"

"Bruce, Louie and Loki got locked in the lab, Bruce let Hulk out, Louie sang to him and made him let Bruce come back," supplied Natasha quickly. Darcy and Steve stared, their mouths hanging open.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, like _that's_ the weirdest thing you've been through." Bruce would have thought Natasha was shitting him, if it weren't for the fact that the big guy was replaying a lilting melody in his head that sounded very much like Annie's song.

"My question is," said Bruce as they moved forward, leaving Steve and Darcy to go find the others, "what made the lab lock down?" Natasha looked worried.

"We don't know for sure," she said, "Tony's pretty pissed. Nothing should be able to get past his firewalls or security systems. _Nothing_." Bruce frowned and made a mental note to go over the systems himself, before Tony went completely batty. They got to the kitchen where Natasha pulled out a box of mac and cheese.

"It's the only thing I know how to make," she said shrugging and ripping it open.

"I thought you and Clint were out on a mission," said Bruce.

"It got postponed. I've been reassigned to something else and Clint's looking for a new partner for a bit." Silence filled the kitchen.

"You know," said Natasha frowning at the pot of pasta, "the first time I met the other guy, I was in pretty much the same situation. You were panicking, I was panicking, and yet I failed you."

"Natasha, you didn't-"

"No, no I did," she bit her lip, looking very sad. "But Louie... holy fuck, has she got balls." Bruce had a quick flashback of what had happened, courtesy of Hulk.

"She just," Bruce paused, "she took one look at him and she just... figured him out." Natasha nodded.

"Sometimes, I think that kid has more than one superpower."

She placed a steaming bowl in front of him.

"Bon appetite."

"Cheers," he toasted her with his fork.

The evening passed and since the lab was in repair, Bruce had nothing to do. He went through the system firewalls, finding absolutely nothing suspicious, which in itself was suspicious enough.

He was in the process of stripping for a bath when there came a knock on the door.

"One minute," he called, hopping on one foot as he pulled his shoes off. He opened the door to Louie.

"Hey, Bruce," she said a little shyly, "can Hulk come out to play?"

* * *

**A/N: ***flops on the chair, exhausted*

So that happened. I've been dying to write the Hulk-Louie scene out for aaages and I'm so glad I finally did! Did I do okay? Is the singing thing lame? I tried very hard to make it un-lame. I mean, I know it's pretty corny, and I struggled a bit when writing out that part (and then it got deleted by accident, and I had to rewrite it, yeesh) but I have a reason for it being specifically singing that calms Hulk down.

Also, did anyone catch a little subtle hint I used to make it known that Louie's perspective of Hulk had changed during their interaction? I'll let you know what it is at the beginning of the next chapter - but until then, go on, try making a guess!

Apologies for atrocious grammar but I do hope you enjoyed that chappie lovvies! If you did, please do leave a revieww :)

Oh, by the way, we're on 49 follows now! So cool! I love you guys, and I'm so glad this many people like the story - it's what keeps me going!

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time!

Much love,

xo

EDIT: I fixed a sentence that misinterpreted Hulk's size.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **Hi there! :D Well, I'm up late once more editing chapters instead of studying lol. Oh, well, what are you gonna do. You lot really liked the last chapter didn't you? I expect it was Hulk. For a monster of rage and hate he sure has a whole load of fans xD

Okay, replies to reviewwws.

**Queen Martha Pond: **Hello there! I believe I missed you in the last chapter. So glad you could review this one, I love reading your thoughts on the story! Haha I'm finding it pretty easy to conjure up dialogue; it's the filling in bits that I suck at. Yes, I knew from the moment I started this story, I wanted Louie and Hulk to be friends – good friends, and I think I achieved that somewhat in the previous chapter. Thank you so much for leaving a review, I'm glad my lil' old story can put a smile on your face!

**FaerySprite: **Hey there :) Thanks so much for leaving a review, I'm glad you like the story. Yeah, I wanted Hulk to, for once, be viewed as something innocent, and not just bad or angry. He's good. Hulk is good. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**Vertigo Venom:** Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! Yeah, if you like the character interactions, I have good news for you - there's a lot more of that on the way! I hope you enjoy this chapter too :)

**bubblettrocks:** Thanks so much, I'm so glad you're enjoying the story :D I am inconsistent with my chapter updates, but I just finished all my lectures so I have LOADS more free time so hopefully I can be a little less all over the place xD and so, here it is, Chapter 11. I hope you enjoy!

**Theatre:** Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! Yeah, I noticed that typo and lamented over it for quite a bit xD I'm glad it just made you laugh instead. I'm terrible at editing; one time I forgot to edit completely and didn't realise it until the next day. So yeah, I hope to goodness that my newly achieved free time means I can take a moment to step back and edit my work before I mindlessly post it. Here is chapter 11, hopefully typo free.

**PaulaWaula:** Thank you for your review! I know, I just love portraying the good in him. This story is all about second chances, and trying to show how each of them has an unfortunate story of some sort, but that's okay because they're all good people. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

**Seasammy13:** Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, I really appreciate it! Yesss, there's plenty more Loki/ Louie action in chapters to come! Enjoy!

And now, go enjoy this (extremely long) chapter. I hope you like it, and I hope you let me know what you think :)

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_**Three weeks later...**_

**Tony POV**

"Tadaaa," sang Tony, throwing his arms out wide.

"Holy..." Louie trailed off. Tony smirked, pleased.

"You made this in three weeks?" asked Clint incredulously.

"Well, no, I was working on an underground space for a while," said Tony and nodded to Loki, "Then Reindeer Games told me he needed a practice space so I thought, why not?"

"It's incredible," murmured Louie, looking around.

"It's a changeable arena, sort of like a virtual reality system. The control panel, up there -" Tony gestured to the far wall of the enormous room, where several feet off the arena floor there was a wide window - "enables one to change the settings for the room. It's strong. Strong enough for anything. I had Hulk test it out. It has race tracks, obstacles courses, lasers in the walls, the whole shebang. There's even a 'natural' ground, complete with a rock pool, for Louie."

There was a murmur of astonished appreciation.

Thor frowned. "But right now, Tony, all I see is barren land." Tony nodded.

"Right. This is the default setting. You can play with it up there, in the control room." He beckoned to them as he walked towards the door at the far end.

"The door leads upward to the control room as well as to the right for the showers and lockers," he said and suddenly snapped his fingers, "speaking of which, everyone has their own locker. Now. Who's coming with me to play with the settings and who's staying down here to play in the field?"

Louie waved her hand in the air. "Field, please. Are you coming, Bruce?" Bruce shrugged and patted his stomach."It's a good thing I wore my big boy pants."

Tony nodded at the pair and looked questioningly at the others. While Jane, Darcy and Clint voted to stay with him, Thor, Loki, Steve and Natasha also opted to go out into the field. They trooped up the stairs, only stopping for a moment to admire the shiny silver lockers and multiple nozzle showerheads. Tony entered the control room and Jarvis kicked in; the lights came on and the system booted up.

"Right then," said Tony, flipping a switch on the dashboard, "can you hear me down there?" The six little figures on the playing field nodded up at him.

"Okay then. Let's have some fun."

Tony flipped a couple more switches and in a few seconds, Jarvis' voice filtered through.

"Okay Jarvis, systems ready to go, let's start off with some level one stuff."

"The drones then, Sir?" Tony grinned.

"Oh yeah. That'll be good."

"Okay," he said, speaking through the intercom again. Bruce and the rest paused to listen. "Feel free to break this bunch into a billion microdots. They'll regenerate after a while so you don't have to feel guilty about it." Tony could almost make out a manic grin on Thor's face. Steve gave them a thumbs up, while Louie pulled her hair back into a plait. A hatch below the control system window opened and four drones flew out, their mechanical arms whirring.

Tony looked at Darcy, Jane and Clint.

"Want to take the controls?" he asked, offering each one a tablet.

"Um."

"Oh, yeah."

"Nat is mine."

"Excellent," he said happily, "let's play."

* * *

**Steve POV**

Down in the field, Steve squinted as Bruce transformed with a loud roar.

"Hey there, big guy," he said, "ready for some smashing?" Hulk nodded, cracking his knuckles.

"You remember all I taught you?" asked Loki. Louie nodded, looking determined. Not for the first time, Steve felt pleased that they hadn't been wrong about Louie. She wasn't afraid of a fight.

"Shouldn't you be up there?" Steve asked quietly. Loki frowned and shook his head.

"I'd rather not."

"Okay, players," said Tony's voice through the speakers. "Let's have some fun." A resounding little _ding _went off and the drones flew at them.

"Let's go!" yelled Steve, and sprinted off towards the drones.

"Natasha," he called, "break this down for me!"

"Four drones, camera eyes, mechanical arms, retractable, possibly hiding multiple weapons, alloyed bodies, I don't know how hard we're gonna have to hit to bring them down."

"Brilliant. Near shot or far?" As if in reply, one drone zoned in on them and with a hissing metallic sound, spit mechanical darts at his feet. With a yelp, Steve stumbled back.

"Classy," snorted Natasha. She looked at Louie. "You want to share one with me?"

"Oh yeah," said Louie, bouncing in the balls of her feet.

"Don't get over excited mortal," warned Loki, frowning. Louie rolled her eyes at him.

"I won't. I'm careful. You know I am." Thor swung his hammer in an arc.

"What say you Loki? Would you like to take down the mechanical beast with me?" Loki crossed his arms.

"Let me think. _No_."

"Oh, come on Loki," said Louie as she clambered onto Hulk's shoulders. "Live a little." Louie's eyes gleamed and she clung to Hulk as he jumped high in the air.

Steve dodged the first two drones and headed for the one that spit darts at him. It flew backwards, heading for the rear end of the field. Steve ran, ran as fast as he could. The muscles of his legs burned in a wonderful way and he yelled in delight. It felt so good to let loose some pent up energy.

The drone seemed to be teasing him, slowing down just enough for him to catch up and then dodging away in a completely different direction. This happened over and over, and though Steve wasn't out of breath, he was starting to lose his patience. It was like playing a ridiculous game of tag.

"Oh, come on," he said, exasperated as it dodged him and zoomed higher into the air, spitting more darts.

"_No shields to help you now, Steve_," sang a robotic voice from the drone. Steve shook his head.

"I should have known. Come on Darcy, you can't stay up there all day!" In response, there was a static filled laugh.

"_Ooh, hey, what does this do_?" With a clicking, whirring noise, the machine's mechanical arms withdrew, and in its place were cannon shaped arms.

"Oh, no." Steve could almost see the smirk on Darcy's face.

"_Oh, yes_."

* * *

**Natasha POV**

Natasha leapt past the drone that Hulk chased after with a roar and dodged a flash of silver to her left. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Louie on Hulk's shoulders. As the big guy leapt into the air, she stood and jumped off, arms spread. For a millisecond, Natasha froze, eyes watching her friend as she fell in slow motion. Then, with a deep rumble, the earth rose below Louie, catching her gently in its wave. Louie looked stunned for a moment, before she raised her arms in victory.

"Alright!" she yelled. Looking over, she pointed at the drone Natasha was heading for.

"That one?" she asked. Natasha nodded. The drone seemed to understand; it took off in the opposite direction. Natasha zoned everything out and gave chase. To her left, Louie ran alongside her, her mouth in a thin line.

"Still not used to running, huh?" she called. Louie grinned weakly in reply.

"Can you take it down?" Natasha asked. Louie frowned and squinted for a moment. All at once, pillars of rock shot straight in to the sky, trying to pierce the drone. It dodged this way and that, almost doing a full three-sixty turn at one point. Natasha knew that reckless driving anywhere.

"Come on, Clint!" she yelled. "Stop running and fight!" In return, all she got was a faceful of dirt: the drone whacked a carefully aimed clod of Louie's straight into her face.

"You didn't," said Louie, shocked. Natasha gritted her teeth.

"He's really asking for it, isn't he?" Mechanical arms clicked in a very come-and-get-me manner. With a shout she sprinted forward, dodging darts and lasers. Clods of earth flew around her, hitting the drone repeatedly. She looked back to see Louie standing there with her hand outstretched, rocks rising around her like a horde of angry birds.

"_Two against one is not fair_," said Clint.

"Who said anything about fair?" asked Natasha, grinning. With a flying leap, she was on the drone. Louie's attack intensified as Natasha firmly crossed her legs around the drone to keep herself from being shaken off.

"Now, to find the control panel," she muttered, feeling the surface of the robot.

"_Sorry Nat, no can do_." Natasha yelped in shock and pain as a mechanical arm stung her in the lower back. She fell backwards, only to have the ground rise up to meet her.

"What did you do to her?" asked Louie, eyes wide.

"_Temporary stun. She'll have my ass for it later_." Louie stumbled back a little, looking slightly nervous.

"_Come on, Avatar. What have you got_?" Louie hesitated, eyes drifting to Natasha's. Clint waited patiently.

"Don't just stand there, fool!" snarled Loki from behind her, ducking a shot from Thor's drone.

"Wha-? Right!" Louie slowly circled the drone, eyes skimming over it. Natasha sat up to watch, groaning. Damn, that was a dumb move on her part. Fighting against Clint was always difficult. She should've known better than to let her guard down.

The drone fired a series of darts but in a flash, Louie raised a wall of rock as a shield around her, before clambering over and letting loose a stream of fire. The drone dodged and backed away. Louie fired more earth at it, pounding away relentlessly at its camera eyes. The mechanical arms flailed about as Clint tried to get a hold of his drone. Louie narrowed her eyes, and Natasha could see her thinking her way through it. She felt a surge of pride. A strategist. Nice.

Louie let out a yell and thrust outwards - a huge gust of wind blew the drone backwards. Natasha winced. Maybe not the best strategist. As if to prove her right, the drone took the opportunity to flee.

Natasha looked at Louie sympathetically, to see an odd little smile playing on her lips. Instead of giving chase, she let loose another horde of dirt clods after the drone. Turning its head around, the drone clicked its arms menacingly before they retracted and the cannon arms appeared. Louie smirked and raised her finger.

The earth zoomed straight into the barrels of the arms before they vibrated and exploded. Louie surged forward. Arms gone, the only things left for the drone to use were its laser eyes. Or so it thought. Natasha watched as the drone's lasers kept missing Louie easily, as if - oh the clever girl.

"You took out one of the eyes. Its aim is lopsided," Natasha muttered, finally understanding. With the drone's long distance fighting now non-existent, it could only run or fight at a short range.

"You're not running again," called Louie, moving forward. Ducking the flapping mechanical arms, she raised a fire-coated hand to the other eye. With a hissing, crackling nose, the glass cracked and melted. The drone turned in a circle aimlessly, curse words emitting from the speaker. Louie laughed before looking to Natasha for permission. Natasha nodded, with a smile.

"Go for the kill, kid."

"Sorry, Clint," said Louie apologetically, before bringing her hand down in a slicing motion. A thin flash of silvery white was all Natasha saw before the drone split in two and fell to the ground with a heavy _thunk_.

Louie huffed and walked over to Natasha, dropping down onto the ground.

"That was exhausting," she declared, "that was worse than when you trained me."

"This is why you need to build up stamina," said Natasha, wincing as she rubbed her back. As they watched, Hulk finally dragged down his drone and ripped its head off.

"He really knows subtlety," said Louie conversationally, waving at the big guy. Hulk grinned, before dashing about, possibly looking for more things to smash.

The only drone left was the one fighting Thor and Loki, Steve having long brought down his own. Thor's hammer barreled through the air as the two demigods flew at the robot. This drone seemed way more competent with its weapons, leaving Natasha with no doubt that it was Tony behind the wheel.

The two brothers moved seamlessly and Natasha watched in awe as a centuries old partnership worked against one drone. It was as if they were two limbs of one creature; if one attacked, the other defended, if one of them took a hit and fell back, the other would know to surge forward and protect them both.

Thor moved forward, aimed a whack at the drone and missed, leaving his side exposed for the drone's darts. In a flash, Loki had knocked them aside with his dagger, while Thor went in for another hit.

"Get the eyes, Loki," he called as he brought the hammer down on the robots head. As the drone raised his arms to defend itself against Mjolnir, Loki slashed the camera eyes with flowing green energy. There was a slight pop and the drone malfunctioned, ripples of electricity travelling over its body.

"I meant just blind it, Loki," sighed Thor.

"Shut up. I stopped it didn't I?" Thor grunted, brushing dust off his jeans. Louie burst into applause.

"Now that," said Natasha, "was teamwork." Loki huffed carelessly, but Natasha didn't miss how he glanced at Louie's awestruck face and looked away. Louie beamed at Loki.

"Now don't pretend that wasn't fun." Loki ignored her and handed his dagger to Thor.

"As I promised. You can have it back now that I have finished with it."

"_Well done, folks_," said Tony sounding a little disgruntled. Natasha shook her head and walked towards the door.

"I'm done for the day," she said. Hulk grumbled loudly and Louie chuckled.

"Well, if he's stayin' then so am I." Natasha headed up to the control room. The first thing she did as she entered was to smack Clint round the head.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right for throwing dirt in my face." Clint stuck his tongue out at her and propped his feet up on the control panel.

"You people just use all my good stuff as footstools, don't you?" asked Tony, glaring at the boots that were defacing his property. Naturally, he was ignored.

Together they watched as Hulk ambled around, chasing down the boulders Louie flung left and right. Steve was starting a wrestling match with Thor and Loki was leaning against a wall, observing silently. Natasha watched Clint watch Loki.

"He's good," said Nat softly. Clint nodded shortly.

"I know. I've seen him fight." Natasha nodded, not knowing what to say.

"I still hate him, you know," said Clint in a voice low enough that only Natasha could hear, "I still remember everything he made me do. Sometimes being around him makes me so mad. How can we be housing a - a murderer?"

Jane and Darcy laughed at something Tony said and Clint sighed, eyes still of the figure of the young woman out in the arena. As they watched, she raced Hulk to one end of the arena.

"And then I see Louie and the way she treats him and how much time she spends around him -" he broke off, shaking his head. "She's good. She's a good fighter."

"I know. We're doing pretty well with her, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Clint set his jaw and looked at the girl laugh and wave at Loki, "and I think it's about time we gave her a mission."

* * *

**Louie POV**

"You're kidding," I said, mouth open. "You want me to _what_ now?" Clint jabbed with his staff and I parried, easily twisting his weapon away with my own. I liked using the staff. It felt better in my hands than a gun.

"Yep. Cap and Natasha already approve. They think you're up for this."

"But," I paused for a moment and then ducked as Clint swiped. "But I've only been at this for a couple of months!"

"Yeah, but I think you can do it. It's nothing too hard just a stakeout and possible negotiation. We'd be done in one night." I went quiet, focusing on trying to make an attack. My first mission. I felt a thrill of excitement and terror.

"Okay then," I said, shrugging nonchalantly. I leapt at him, cutting my staff through the air diagonally. Clint blocked it with his staff and brought his leg up in a kick, getting me in the side.

"So," I panted, "who am I going with?" He smirked, spinning his stick in one hand.

"Me, obviously."

"Right," I frowned, "obviously."

"That's enough for today. Meet me in the Tower's garage after dinner tonight. Wear something appropriate."

"Alright then," I said. I tapped my staff on the ground "I like this." Clint nodded.

"I noticed. Close combat is definitely your thing." I glanced at the whiteout wall. There was now a list of fighting styles up with tallies next to the ones I succeed at. Naturally, guns had a total of around three while hand-to-hand was well in the thirties.

"Oh and Louie," added Clint as I turned to leave, "you're not telling anyone else where you're going." I bit my lip. I had lessons with Loki after dinner.

"Nobody?" Clint stared, eyebrow raised.

"Being and agent involves a lot of secrets and lies," he said bluntly. I nodded.

"I understand."

After dinner I went to my room early, ignoring the curious look Loki gave me.

Quickly I donned a black, long sleeved shirt and dark jeggings. Over them I wore my Converse - the kind that went all the way up my ankles. I braided my hair to keep it out of the way and, as a last resort, threw on a jacket. Clint said it was going to be a stakeout. Who knew how long we'd have to wait?

"Going somewhere?" I jumped, my heart missing a few beats.

"Don't _do_ that." Loki learn against the door frame, eyeing me.

"I thought you were told to stay inside during the night."

"I'm not going alone," I sighed. Loki's eyes narrowed. "Then who are you going with?"

"Clint," I replied casually, adjusting my hair and stepping out of the room. Shutting the door behind me, I walked quickly towards the elevator.

"Barton?" Loki asked incredulously. "Why?"

"Ever hear of a date?" I lied, groaning inwardly. Oh Louie, you creature of wit. Loki's eyes widened dramatically.

"Thor and his... woman go in those infernal things. You mean - you and Barton - you -?" I ignored him and focused firmly on counting sheep in my head. It wouldn't do to let him in there and find out where I was going.

"I see," he said shortly. I looked at him, surprised.

"I'll be back before you know it," I said nudging his shoulder. Or well, his bicep really, he was a good ten inches taller than me.

"Hm."

The elevator travelled down painfully slowly and I snuck a glance at Loki. We passed the first floor of offices and my heart sank, realising he wasn't going to get out.

Down at the garage, I looked around for the archer. He was leaning against a sleek sports car, twirling the keys in his hand. Clint frowned as his gaze slid to Loki and I groaned quietly. I really did not want to have to sort out the two of them right now.

"Ready?" he asked, ignoring the demigod. Loki bristled next to me.

"Yep," I said my voice unusually high. Clint gave me a look. I knew what he was asking. Did I tell Loki where I was going when he told me not to?

"So, where are we going on our, um, date?" I asked nervously, hunching my shoulders. I had never been more thankful for Clint's SHIELD training. Without missing a beat he replied.

"It's a surprise. Now let's go."

"Bye Loki, " I said in a small voice. "I'll see you in a bit."

I got in and Clint started up the vehicle. Casually he put an arm around me as he backed out of the garage. I narrowed my eyes. He was laying it on a little thick. When we were on the road, I turned back and gave Loki a small wave as he disappeared from view, ignoring the little pang of guilt I felt. He looked a little forlorn as Stark Tower disappeared from sight. Clint withdrew his hand and handed me a bag.

"Some toys for you. Pick out what you want." I pulled out one device. Gun. Nope. I tossed it into the back seat.

"Watch it!" said Clint, "You're as bad as Natasha. God, she flings them around the room like they don't hold ten rounds."

"Sorry." I stuck my hand in the bag again. Taser. Nope.

Pipe-bomb-esque bombs. Nah. I paused before chucking the bunch and picked out a couple. Okay, maybe one or two.

"What's this thing?" I asked, holding up a baton. Clint glanced at it.

"Retractable staff."

Oh yes. Definitely yes.

Nothing else seemed quite my style so I dropped the bag into the backseat.

"That's it?" asked Clint. I nodded.

"So where are we going, really?"

"You mean, on our date?" Clint asked innocently, "I told you, it's a surprise."

"You're the one that told me not to tell anyone where I was going," I said sourly.

"I did," he agreed before giving me a sideways glance, "but a date?"

"Hey, he was glaring at me," I ground out, "it's difficult to come up with something decent when he does that."

"I take it Loki glares at you a lot then."

"Oh, yeah," I agreed. "I think he has a special one reserved especially for me." Clint slowed down at a red light.

"How are your lessons?" I glanced at Clint. He wasn't the type to make small talk.

"Okay, what gives?"

"What are you talking about?" I crossed my arms.

"You're being awfully chatty tonight. Note the keyword - _awfully_." He sighed.

"I just don't trust Loki. Around you or around anybody else."

"Nobody trusts Loki," I pointed out, "but that doesn't mean everyone is as much of a dick to him as you are. So tell me, what gives?" Clint's grip on the wheel tightened.

"It's a long story."

"I'm not going anywhere." Clint didn't reply, his face stony.

"Clint?" I prodded. He shook his head, eyes darkening. I huffed and sat back, trying to figure out how the baton opened. He'd tell me eventually.

A good hour later, we were driving slower and the moon had risen well into the sky. The car purred down an alleyway and stopped.

"A very villainesque place," I said quietly. Clint snorted.

"It's the ones that dress prettily and live in penthouses you gotta be careful of."

"So what are we waiting for?" I asked.

"Smallish guy, red hair, glasses. He's nothing much, but a tech genius."

"What did he do?"

"He hacked into SHIELD's systems."

"So what, we're gonna go beat him up for it?"

"Louie, we're not the equivalents of the biggest bullies in the park. We just keep the peace."

"Then why are we here?"

"The average person can hack into SHIELD's systems in a total of eight minutes. Nat can do it in about half that time."

"And this guy?"

"Two and a half minutes."

"You want to hire him," I said, realisation dawning. Clint nodded.

"SHIELD needs that kind of person on their side. Especially someone with underground connections."

"So will it be bribery or blackmail?"

"A bit if both," said Clint with a wicked grin. I nodded. So this was how SHIELD recruited its people. We sat in silence for a while, until -

"So really, why a date?"

"Oy!" I said exasperated, "I'm just not a creative liar. I was focusing too much on counting sheep in my head."

"Counting sheep, huh?" He was obviously trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yes," I snapped, "because if I hadn't he'd have probably known anyway, he gets inside my head-"

"What did you say?" Clint said sharply, no longer laughing.

"He-," Oh wait. His powers were sealed. Oh boy.

"He gets inside my head?" I said again, timidly.

"But I thought he couldn't use his powers?" Clint said loudly.

"Shhh!" I hissed. "Okay, he can't do it with everyone anymore, just me-"

"He gets inside your head," muttered Clint distractedly.

"Yes, that's what I said, but it's okay, I blocked him today, he doesn't know I came out on SHIELD work," I said a little proudly. Clint shook his head, a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes plastered on his face.

"I knew it. I knew we shouldn't have let him near you. Jesus, I'm calling Fury, they can fucking have him back -"

"Whoa, wait a minute!" I said alarmed. "Clint!"

"Louie," he said, "he's dangerous, can't you see that?"

"He's powerless," I snapped right back, annoyance rising. I reached for his phone, pulling it out of his grip. "Stop treating him like he's just a piece of dirt, he isn't-"

"Shut the fuck up, Louie," he snarled and twisted both my wrists together with one hand. I froze, mouth hanging open. I was frightened. I was frightened of Clint. None of the Avengers had frightened me the way he did right now, at the way he was staring, with so much spite and hatred.

"You have no idea," he said coldly, murderously, "what you're talking about. Him? Powerless?" Clint laughed humorlessly. "He's a snake, Louie! This is how he works. He gets in your fucking head!" He stared unseeingly at something in the distance.

"Clint," I said in a hushed voice. "You're scaring me." His eyes widened in realisation and he dropped my hands. I fought the urge to rub my wrists - he looked terribly ashamed.

"I'm sorry," he ran his hands through his hair. "You just, you have to understand, Loki's way of working isn't brute force. You may think he's powerless, but if he gets into your head, it's more than enough for him to wreak havoc." A wild look appeared in his eyes. "Believe me, I know."

"What?" I asked shocked. The archer took a deep breath.

"Do you remember the last time Loki came to earth?"

"That's when the Avengers Initiative officially started," I said, remembering something Pepper had told me. Clint nodded and stared at the steering wheel.

"Loki brainwashed a bunch of humans to do his dirty work, some key players in SHIELD and a scientist named Eric Selvig."

"I remember him," I said, my mind going back to his face plastered on the news during the Greenwich attack.

"He also took me."

"You?" I echoed blankly. Clint clenched and unclenched his jaw.

"One minute I was fine and the next I feel blank and like my some purpose is to just... do as he says. Whatever I did, I felt like I was just watching myself do it without a care in the damn world. Like I was okay with it."

"What did he make you do?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted to know. Clint looked at me, his eyes tortured and blank.

"I can still remember everything. Every single thing. The people I killed. I knew some of them. They were good people and the worst part," he said his voice shaking, "is that _I can't forget_."

I sat in silence, a nasty feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach. Tentatively, I placed my hand on his fist. He stiffened at the contact.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I was wrong. You do know. You know more than I do. And I have no right to tell you anything." Clint nodded, inhaling sharply. I edged closer to him, forcing his blue eyed gaze to turn back to me.

"But you can't tell Fury. You know you can't. If Loki goes, then I go too." It was a horrible way to finally realise the gravity of what I'd just said, what I'd finally come to understand. My fate was tied to Loki's until he got off the hook. And that could be forever.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," said the archer shortly. I sighed.

"Yeah, well, trust me, he doesn't like it either."

"You tell me if the bastard tries anything, okay? I'll gladly rip his tongue out and hand it to him." I winced at the imagery it gave me.

"I will." He nodded.

"Until then I guess I'll just have to be content with making his life as miserable as humanely possible. Come on," he whispered suddenly, poker face in place. "He's here."

I stiffened, turning my head. I could see him. Face tucked into the collar of his jacket, he was walking quickly towards the warehouse. Clint got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"Hey!" he called when the redhead was a few feet away. "Seb Rohmer?"

"Who wants to know?" asked the man - boy really, his voice still held the fading but tinny quality of a pubescent lad.

"We do," said Clint gesturing.

"I didn't do nothing wrong," he said defensively.

"We asked you if you were Rohmer. Not if you did anything wrong," I pointed out.

"Well, ah, maybe I know him," he said slowly. He raised his head, and his glasses glinted as he shifted nervously. I rolled my eyes at the lie.

"Yeah see Seb's in big trouble," said Clint ambling forward. "He tried to hack into some systems he shouldn't have been hacking into. Systems that aren't supposed to even exist."

Seb Rohmer looked from me to Clint and bolted.

* * *

**A/N:** Haha, well, that was fun. A slightly jealous Loki and a fairly clueless Louie. And of course, there's Clint. Now, a couple of things that I need to address:  
At this point, Louie's powers, when it comes to fighting, involve a lot of manipulation of her surroundings, instead of using energy bolts etc, which is more difficult to muster. So basically I borrowed a lot from Avatar, the Last Airbender when it came to that logic. She can manipulate what exists. She can't "create" at will like Loki and his illusions. If you've watched Nickelodeon's Avatar, you know that, for example, if there is no water in the surroundings, it's not possible for waterbenders to fight, etc. Fire is oddly the exception to this rule but I'm guessing that has something to do with say, heat and whatnot. (I can't remember for sure - I haven't watched it in years). Anyway, I'm trying to apply that kind of theory here so that Louie's powers develop in a realistic manner. So then, hopefully, you won't see her suddenly causing time to flow backwards or magically heal, levitate or transform or all that other fancy mumbo jumbo in one sudden jump - if at all. Baby steps, you know.

Now, after saying all that there is another little point I must discuss: If this logic is so, why can Louie speak telepathically to Loki and how was she able to heal him? I'm glad you asked. See, that has more to do with Loki than Louie. It's _Loki_ who can telepathically speak to Louie and _Loki_ who healed himself. To heal he accidentally borrowed some of Louie's energy- the girl is a walking battery. Then, the telepathy thing is a link that exists only between the two of them. Because Loki's magic is sealed, he can't technically speak to anybody in his head. But again, he can speak to Louie because he can borrow her energy. Louie too can speak back to him, but to him and him alone. Telepathy is not a talent of hers that spreads to all around her. It's just a her and Loki thing. I hope that made sense.

In honour of my going to watch the Avengers Age of Ultron today, I decided to upload this asap. In a few short hours, I will be hysterical. I just know it. I hope you lot have watched it too, I'd like to discuss it from this point on in my story - not excessively, but just a bit you know. Maybe I can incorporate facts into my story?

Also, Holy CRAP you guys! 66 followers and 46 faves! My brain ceased functioning when I saw that. Gosh, thanks so, so much, all of you, I'm so glad you're interested in the story!

And now, my beloved friends, I must be off, off to the cinema! I'll let you know my opinion of it in the next chapter :3

Oh and also, as the answer to the question I posed at the end of chapter 10, Louie's perspective of Hulk changed when he stopped being _the_ Hulk and just became _Hulk_. Hehe. That's actually a tip of the hat, if my memory serves me right, to the initial version of a wonderful story called **Archaic Kinds of Fun**, by the fantastic **IronBat**, something you should DEFINITELY check out. It's under my favourites, if you need to find it fast. Her story is in the process of being rewritten (and it's a bloody good rewrite) but I believe I vaguely remember a scene in the first version of someone insisting that it wasn't THE Hulk, he was just Hulk.  
(My memory is the worst so I can't remember exactly who said this... oh god. What if it's the wrong story? No, no I'm pretty sure it was this story. Let's just cut to the goodbye then shall we?)

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

UNTIL NEXT TIME FOLKS! :D

Much luurrrve,

xo


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **GUYS GUYS GUYS OH MY GOD_ GUYS. _I watched Age of Ultron and DEAR SWEET LORD IT WAS BRILLIANT, IT WAS TWO HOURS AND SOMETHING MINUTES OF PURE, BLISSFUL JOY TO WATCH AND OH GOD, I CANNOT, AJGNGRGKGLLSGSNAJFDLFLDFLDKLLL.

Okay, okay. I'm calm.

Needless to say, I loved every minute of the new movie and I cannot wait for it to come out on DVD (*cough cough* cut Loki scene *cough cough cough*)

I do realise, on watching this movie, that I overestimated Hulk's height quite a bit. Well. Oops. No matter, I believe it won't be too much of a hassle. However, when need arises, Hulk will be canon size again *grumbles* **EDIT: I fixed this problem in chapter 10 by fixing a single sentence and it all worked out. Hulk is canon size again**

This chapter is a short one, but important nevertheless. On to the reviews then!

**Theatre:** Thanks for the review! Oh snap, that totally slipped my mind! Thank you for pointing it out! I'm glad I've got a typo queen for a reader though, it makes spotting the faults easier ;) I also spotted a couple more in the last chapter. Damn, one of these days I have got to get around to Re-editing my chapters for grammar. I'm such a hypocrite - I despise bad grammar and yet here I am, making atrocious little mistakes! Excuse the rant, lol xD Also, I LOVED THE MOVIE AND I HAVE NEW SHIPS AND OH GOD MY FEELS I CANNOT. I even included a little reference in this chapter ;) Thanks again for taking the time to review - I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

**Queen Martha Pond:** Yes, the brothers are an amazing team, no matter how much animosity Loki creates between them! Wow, I'm so glad you understand exactly why Clint was scary in comparison to some powerful beings! I'm so relieved to know I got that little idea across successfully. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like this chapter too!

**Anonymous:** Thanks so much for your kind words! I'm glad you like the story and I hope you continued all the way through to chapter 11 and are able to read this chapter as well.

**AinsleyWright:** Aw, shucks, thanks so much! I adore jealous Loki, it makes for such hilarious writing xD Poor Loki. I adored the movie, as you can probably tell by my outpouring of words at the beginning of this thing. It was absolutely brilliant and I felt highly smug at having imagined Clint's reckless driving and the whole singing (the lullaby thing) to calm Hulk down even BEFORE I watched the movie. Gah. Let me proceed to bury myself in feels and maybe attempt to sneak into the movie theatre again. I hope you like this chapter too!

**PhantomLion:** Thanks for taking the time to leave a review! I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

And there you have it! I hope you enjoy this one folks!

* * *

**Chapter 12**

**Louie POV**

"Shouldn't have done that," sighed Clint, hurrying back to the car and taking out his arrows. But Seb Rohmer was too quick for Clint; he ducked down an alleyway as Clint's taser arrow whistled past.  
Clint took off in a sprint behind him.

"You promised me there would be no running," I groaned before taking off after him.

I had to hand it to Seb, he was fast. He very likely knew the alleyways like the back of his hand because it was like playing a game of whack-a-mole, what with the way he disappeared and reappeared among the empty warehouses.

After Seb made a particularly narrow escape into a dark corner, Clint skidded to a halt, panting. A couple of his arrows littered the floor.

"That little bastard is taking us around in circles," I huffed, clutching a stitch in my side.

"All I need," said Clint, breathing deeply, "is one good shot." I nodded.

"I can get you one good shot." I stomped hard into the ground and the earth beneath our feet shot into the sky, towering over all the buildings. Clint loaded his bow, his eyes raking the shadows.

"Got him," he murmured and fired at an alley a good way away from us. There was a slight whisper as the arrow whizzed through the air and then a shout of pain.

"Taser?" I asked sympathetically.

"Yup."

"Let's go," I said, and concentrated. The pillar cracked and creaked and then, a perfect cylinder broke away from the top, taking us with it.

"Got any more tricks up your sleeve?" asked Clint, gripping my shoulder to prevent himself from getting thrown off.

I shrugged, "I don't know really, I'm making these up as I go along."

Seb Rohmer was lying face down on the ground, twitching slightly. We both hopped off and I extended my staff. Clint pulled off his arrow and flipped Seb over.

"Hey," he said kneeling next to him and tapping his face. Seb groaned slightly before batting Clint away wildly.

"Fuck, dude!" he gasped, trying to crawl backwards. Unfortunately his limbs didn't work as well, making him do an odd little dance on the ground. He cursed a little more.

"Language," I tsked sweetly. Seb let loose an emotional tirade.

"Look man, I'm sorry okay, I was just doing what I was told to and I was told to break into Jared or whatever-"

"Jared?" Clint frowned, confused.

"Yeah," said Seb looking up at us, "you know, that computer at Stark Tower, I didn't want to get in there man, I was just -"

"Wait," I interrupted, "that was _you_?" Seb gulped.

"I'm sorry, I was just doing as I was told-"

"Who told you?" asked Clint at once. At that, the redhead went ashen, mouth clamming shut.

"Well, what about three days ago?" asked Clint, "what the hell were you doing back then? You shouldn't have been able to access what you did on a long distance network and yet you did."

"I - what?" Seb asked, confused. He looked at me slowly. "This isn't about Stark?" Clint and I shook our heads and Seb rubbed the back of his curly red head. "Fuck."

I stayed silent, thinking hard. The hacker from three weeks ago, that had been Seb. Clint stepped closer.

"You still didn't answer my question. What were you going three _days_ ago?"

"I was just surfing the net, man," said Seb defensively. I raised my eyebrow.

"Okay," he corrected himself. "Not just the net. But I was just doing it for practice."

"Practice?" Seb sighed and sat up, rubbing his arm. "I was just trying to pay my way through some stuff," he said quietly. "And my line of work isn't easy. I need to practice on something."

"So you went online and picked a random site?" I asked in disbelief. Seb shrugged.

"Pretty much, yeah."

"So then what?" Clint asked, folding his arms and waiting for Seb to continue.

"I just stumbled across some tough stuff and I got curious. The tech was nothing like I'd seen before - it was incredible. But I broke through in less than three minutes. Some of my best work," he said proudly, before shaking his head. "And wasted on a god damn fun-capade. Damn, if I was that fast on Stark's tech-" he broke of suddenly, seeming to realise who he was with.

I stepped closer to the archer.

"So the SHIELD break-in was just a coincidence?" I asked Clint quietly. Clint shrugged, eyes narrowed.

"Seems like it."

Seb took off his glasses and rubbed them on his t-shirt in a curiously childlike manner.

"How old are you?" I asked, suddenly feeling bad for the kid. Seb put his glasses back on and squinted.

"Nineteen, ma'am," he replied.

"You're damn smart for a nineteen year old," I said cocking my head. "And that's what we want to talk to you about."

"P-pardon?"

"Let's just say that tech you went on a, uh, _fun_-_capade_ with shouldn't have been broken into in even five minutes, let alone three."

"Oh," he blinked, and rubbed his arm, where the taser had got him. I noticed a familiar little patch on his upper sleeve.

"Let me guess," I said, "college kid who got into some deep shit, huh?" Seb nodded miserably. I kept talking. "You got some crack, you did some, and you dealt some and got into debt. And whoever strung you along wanted payment. Fast." Seb nodded and picked up where I trailed off.

"Just a bunch of idiots. I thought I could handle it. But then, I couldn't pay up on one day. One fucking day. And they went apeshit. Then, this bunch of guys came to my apartment one night. They said they'll pay my debt if I hacked into a tower for them and then forgot they ever existed," Seb shrugged. "So I did. But I didn't realise it was Stark Tower until I actually got through and that – Jared –"

"Jarvis," Clint and I corrected him automatically.

"Right – him, told me where I was. And God, I flipped the _fuck_ out and back tracked as fast as I could. I might've temporarily shut Jarvis down on my way out," he winced. "Anyway, the people that were supervising me, they told me they'd got what they wanted. Then they shoved cash into my pocket and knocked me unconscious. I woke up outside my apartment."

"What did these guys look like?" Clint asked. Seb shook his head.

"I've forgotten, man. Their faces are a blur. I can't even remember how many of them there were." Clint and I exchanged skeptic glances.

"Look, you gotta believe me," Seb burst out angrily. "One of them just said 'Thanks, now, forget this ever happened' and I swear, I've just forgotten. I'm not lying. Neither am I lying about just stumbling into some tough tech three days ago." He glared. I bit my lip. He seemed to be telling the truth and yet… Clint sighed and nodded.

"Fine. I believe you."

"You do?" I asked, surprised.

"You do?" echoed Seb.

"I do. But you're accompanying us to Stark Tower." Seb whimpered.

"Oh God, I never asked for this shit." I rolled my eyes as I strapped him into the front seat and took the back.

"Yeah, me neither, kid. And yet, here we are."

"We've been gone a long time," said Clint, starting up the vehicle. "People are probably starting to worry. Let's get you home to lover boy." He smirked at me as he said it.

"Oh, shut up Clint," I said irritably. I'd forgotten about Loki for a second there. Thinking about the Asgardian gave me an uncomfortable rush of feelings. Right now, what was on the forefront of my mind was what Clint had said. Was I being too trusting with Loki? Had I forgotten what he was, what he had done, what he could do?

I bit my lip. What if he _was_ playing havoc in my head? What if that was why I couldn't stop thinking about him? I went a little pink at _that_ thought. Nervously, I bit the end of my braid as I curled up in one corner of the back seat. What if Clint was right? What if Loki was just playing me like a fool? The thought was terrifying, for more reasons than one.

I had been staring off into space but now noticed Clint giving me odd little glances in the rearview mirror. At that point I realised I had been humming tunelessly, a habit that came around very rarely and only when I was trying to block problems out of my head. I was something I hadn't done in years, the first time being -

I broke off that train of thought immediately. No. Now was not the time.

* * *

**Loki POV**

During the day it could be said that Stark Tower was one of the busiest places in Manhattan, even called the hub of all technology and activity. During the night the same could be said of the uppermost floors, the ones which needed VIP passes to be allowed into, the ones which all of Stark's employees tried to sneak into on occasion, only to be kicked out on their corporate behinds by one sassy software program.

However, it was now well past three in the morning, and the whole tower was still, well , not _deathly_ still; drones were patching up three floors from an angry scientist debacle, but it lacked human activity anyway.

Loki shifted crossly in the large sofa. He couldn't sleep. It was the pain in his back, he told himself, and certainly had nothing to do with the lack of a certain Midgardian. He'd tried everything and now, the lack of sleep was giving him a headache. He hissed in frustration and attempted to read his book. One would think the author would captivate him, and at some other time he certainly would have, but not today. Not now.

The door clicked as it opened. Quietly, a figure padded into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes tiredly.  
Natasha made her way to the refrigerator and rummaged about inside it.

"Can't sleep?" she said, her head still stuck in the fridge. Loki shook his head.

"No."

"Yeah, me neither." Loki grunted. Obviously not. Natasha poured herself a glass of milk before dropping into a sofa next to Loki's.

"They've been gone a long time," said Natasha quietly. Loki didn't need to ask who she was talking about.

"It must be hard for you," said Loki bitingly, "to see him go off with her instead of you." Natasha shrugged.

"I can't always have him to myself. Besides, I trust Louie." Loki couldn't believe his ears. Did Midgardians not believe in monogamy anymore?

"You really expect me to believe you have no problem with sharing your, er, lover, is it?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, puzzled.

"What are you on about?" Loki blinked. Was she really that obtuse?

"Barton and the _mortal_. They went on a _date_." The word felt bitter in his mouth. Natasha's lips thinned and her eyes narrowed in confusion.

"I see," she said, "and Clint told you this?"

"No," Loki shook his head, "She did." Natasha nodded, her face unreadable. However, Loki noticed that the tension in the air around her had somewhat relaxed. She downed her drink in one go.

"I think," she said quietly, "I'll go back to bed now. Goodnight Loki."

Loki waited for just a little while longer, until the clock chimed the passing of another ungodly hour. Giving up waiting as a bad job, he headed down to the rooms. Louie's one was just opposite his. He hesitated only a moment before entering it. She wouldn't be coming back to this room anyway, not tonight, if his brother and Jane Foster were anything to go by.

Louie's room was now very different from the bare space it had been at the beginning of her stay. In the beginning it looked much like his room, but now, colourful pictures hung on the wall, and books were scattered across the carpet. The bed was made, but crumpled, some clothes she had picked out to wear still lying on the bed. Her computer was on her desk, along with her mobile phone. Loki picked it up and fiddled with it. The screen lit up and a picture of Louie and an older woman who looked much like her appeared on it. Putting it down, Loki let his fingers drift over her books.

Many of them were he own, although he could see a few that were Tony's in the mix. There were also a few books on Norse mythology. Loki rifled through one and smirked. Well. Someone had been attempting to conduct some research. Although most of it seemed wrong - Loki hardly remembered siring any children. He sat on the bed, kicking off his shoes, and leaned back, fully engrossed in the torrid love affair of Thor and Sif. Oh, he should show this to Thor. Maybe even Jane. The sheets smelled of Louie and for once in the last few hours, Loki felt comfortable and warm.

When he awoke once more, strangely well rested, he could faintly hear the traffic in the distance. He put together that it was still quite early in the morning. Too early. It was then that he realised that this was not his room. It was not his bed. And he was not alone. Something shifted beside him, something warm. Hesitantly he looked down.

Curled against his side was Louie, her hair still in a braid and her jacket still on. Only one shoe was on her socked feet. The other, he realised, was buried under him, digging into his spine. He pulled it out and dropped it onto the carpeted floor. Louie mumbled softly and curled into him further, her fingers tightening on the fabric of his shirt. Loki swallowed. This was not good. This was most definitely not good. As delighted as he was that Louie hadn't decided to spend the night in Barton's room (the thought made his skin crawl), the way she was pressed up against him was... worrisome.

She smelled faintly of oranges and more so of dust and sweat. Only Loki wasn't finding it overly unappealing. Perhaps he could simply pull away and leave? As if she'd read his mind, Louie put the other shoe clad foot firmly over his legs, almost straddling his waist. Her hand drifted low on his chest. Loki groaned softly. _Not good at all._

The shoe clad leg moved lower and Louie stretched against him, sighing.

Oh, for Odin's sake.

He wriggled slightly, trying to ease away.

"Stop fussing, Jesus," muttered Louie thickly and Loki almost jumped out of his skin. He held his breath, hoping he was imagining things.

"I can _feel_ you worrying and it's not letting me sleep. So stop," she said, her voice still laced with sleep and annoyance.

"I thought you'd be the first to flee this room in surprise," said Loki, gathering his wits.

"Give me time," she murmured, "once I'm fully awake and back in my senses, maybe I will." Loki found himself hoping that moment would never come, but he'd be damned if he ever said that out loud. He opened his mouth to make a snarky retort.

"Don't say another word," Louie threatened, her nose buried into his shoulder. "Just shut up and sleep." Loki's mouth snapped close and he pondered his options. On the one side he was still annoyed at her (not at her and the archer's involvement mind you, just a blanket disapproval; Barton was far too old for her and too short for her, not that he was saying that Louise needed _tall_ men, it was just that he – oh, shut up, shut up _now_, you idiot) and he knew come sensible hours of the morning, Louie would go as red as a tomato and run away with her tail in between her legs. On the other hand, he was tired and he hadn't slept better in ages. Leaving didn't seem very welcoming.

And so, he reached over and tugged off Louie's other shoe, taking a swift kick in the shin for interrupting her slumber with as little wincing as possible and settled back. In no time at all, he was fast asleep.

* * *

**Louie POV**

It was almost five in the morning when Clint drove back into the Tower's garage. He shook both Seb and I awake and saw me through to our floor before heading off to Tony with Seb in tow. I didn't want them to go alone - Tony was going to _massacre_ the boy, I just knew it.

I entered my room, fully intent on sleeping for the next five years and groaned. There, asleep on my bed, was the last person I wanted to see after tonight's course of events.

"For God's sake," I grumbled. I was too tired to care. I flopped onto the bed, making a half hearted attempt to take off my shoes and drifting off at once. I'm fairly certain that I woke up once more in the early hours of the morning, but I don't particularly remember. When I did rejoin the land of the living however, Loki was still there, hand splayed across my hips.

"To wake or not to wake, that is the question," I said softly. Loki was still fast asleep, his breathing slow and steady and I was in no mood to poke him awake. I stared curiously. He seemed so… peaceful. I'd never realized until this moment that Loki's face always held a guarded or smooth expression. Now however, his expression was serene and relaxed. I brushed a lock of his hair from his face, tracing the shell of his ear. His eyes opened at once.

"Um," I said.

"Articulate as ever." I rubbed my eyes, still too sleepy to be embarrassed.

"What did I say or do last night?"

"Nothing except just force me to stay." Loki smirked. "You're strangely compliant when you're sleepy." I felt my face heat up.

"I guess it's too late to get all worked up about it, huh?"

"Far too late," said Loki, his lips quirking before frowning softly, "I'm surprised you came back to your own room after your, ah, date."

"Yeah," I bit my lip, avoiding his gaze, "About that..." Loki raised an eyebrow curiously. I took in a deep breath.

"I lied," I said in a rush, "Clint took me out on my first mission." Loki gaped. He stared at me for a long moment. When he didn't say anything after a full minute of staring, I tentatively reached for him in my mind. Barriers slammed up against me and I winced.

"I guess I deserved that."

"Why did you lie to me?" The hurt in his voice was evident. I stared at his collar.

"Clint told me not to tell anyone. But I suppose considering what happened last night, everyone will be updated soon." This was clearly the wrong thing to say, because Loki's eyes immediately dulled.

"And if nothing had happened last night," he said slowly, "you wouldn't have told me about this at all, would you?" I kept quiet.

"Natasha knew," he said absently, eyes fixed on the wall, "that's why she seemed confused when I told her you went off with Barton."

"It's different for them," I said shifting before blanching, "Wait, you told Natasha _what,_ exactly?"

"That you and Barton went off to wine and dine and later, possibly procreate," he snapped. My face burned.

"She is going," I whispered, "to _murder_ me." I got no answer from Loki.

"How is it different for them?" he pressed, eyes still fixed on the wall. I shrugged before answering.

"Well, they've been partners for a really long time and I'm pretty sure as a SHEILD agent, she'd be informed of where her partner and friend goes."

"Of course. And we are neither partners nor friends?" asked Loki blankly. I opened my mouth, hesitantly. What _was_ the status of my relationship with Loki? Were we even friends? I mean, sure, we got along well enough, especially when he wasn't behaving like a crabby old man. We even shared the same love of Shakespeare, which had lead to several days of happy arguing about which character was our favourite. But after Clint's story… I was beginning to wonder whether the Loki I knew was truly Loki at all. The Asgardian in question drew in a sharp breath.

"Very well. I understand." I blinked. What? _Oh!_

"Oh no, I didn't mean, I'm sor-"

"Don't," he said cutting across my apology, "circumstances are the only reason we're attached to each other. It is not necessary to pretend to like me or to be my friend. I certainly won't. I don't need your friendship and I certainly don't need your pity." He disentangled himself from the bed sheets and got up, picking his shoes off the floor.

"That's not – I didn't mean – Clint told me what you did," I said, ignoring the stab of hurt I felt at being shoved off. "What you did to him." Loki's throat worked, his green eyes flickering.

"Well then, I suppose you know what I'm capable of," he said finally, before walking out. The door clicked close behind him and I stared at it for the longest time, trying not to feel terribly empty.

"We're not friends." I muttered, scrunching my nose. "We are not friends."

* * *

**A/N: ***Whistles innocently*

I'll make it up in the next chapter, I swear.

That's it for now folks, if you like it, do leave a review and let me know what you think :D

Also, many thanks to the favourites and follows – the numbers are still rising!

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's Note: **So I did honestly feel slightly bad at the glum ending of the last chapter, so I wrote this one as a peace offering. It's a filler chapter, and complete crack, but it does set the scene for a few important events in the future. So, without further ado, I give you chapter 13. (After the replies to the reviews, that is)

So, nothing you recognise is mine, I only own Louie, disclaimer, disclaimer, etc. Mistakes are aaalll mine though, however much I wish they weren't.

**Theatre: **No worrisome typos? *raises fist in triumph* I don't know whether to feel bad for making you cry or to feel flattered that my chapter was that moving xD Aw, anyway, I hope you like this chapter - it's very silly and a fun sort of thing. Enjoy!

**Queen Martha Pond:** Thanks for the review! :D Well, my dear, I suppose you're about to find out! You know, I was struggling on writing out the beginning of this chapter, and then I read your review and thought "that's it! I'll start off with the Louie vs Natasha bit!" So thanks for (unknowingly, but still) inspiring me and prompting me! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**AinsleyWright:** Yeah, I know. I feel terribly wicked for putting them through that. Accept this chapter as my consolation. I hope you enjoy, and thanks for leaving a review!

**LilliannaStone: **Thanks for leaving a review! I hope this chapter makes up for all the strong feels and instead gives you either a bit of a grin or a slight eyeroll. I hope you enjoy!

Okayyyyy, GO!

* * *

**Chapter 13**

**Darcy POV**

Darcy yawned as Tony paced the length of the living space. For once, all the inhabitants of Stark Tower were present at an Avengers meeting. And they even had a guest. Darcy peered over her reading glasses at the redhead in question. Sebastian Rohmer, the kid that had managed to hack into and throw Stark Tower into havoc for a full hour. Darcy sighed. Was everybody that she associated with going to be super intelligent, or strong or magical?

For what might be the first time Darcy had ever seen, Tony seemed excruciatingly annoyed.

"So you're the little punk that attempted to assassinate my AI."

Darcy could've sworn Seb whimpered. Next to her, on the sofa, Steve shifted. Darcy beat the warm, fuzzy feelings she got when his hand brushed hers and stayed there. She tasered those feelings and locked them in a vault in her head. She shot them into oblivion and watched them bleed out in a bottomless pool. She butchered them and sold them to the evil Yoda she knew was lurking inside her cranium. She-

Steve's fingers brushed against hers once more and it was all she could do to stop herself from melting into a little puddle of goo. She tilted her head and peeked at him from the corner of her eye. He was staring at Tony advancing murderously on Seb but his lips twitched ever so slightly. Darcy went scarlet. Steve Rogers was playing around at an all important meeting? Something was very not right. She bit down a smile and let her eyes wander to get her mind off the Captain.

There was Pepper, wondering whether or not to interfere in Tony's slow destruction of the poor, foolish IT prodigy. Thor, Clint and Jane were huddled together along with Natasha, watching the scene unfold with interest. Bruce, like Pepper, seemed to be waiting to jump in and rescue Sebastian if need arose. Louie bit her lip worriedly, eyes flickering to Natasha and Loki repeatedly. As for Loki, Darcy immediately noticed the hostile vibes coming off him. She had been at the receiving end of many, but now, they were directed at Louie.

Alarm bells went off in Darcy's head. If Louie couldn't get along with Loki, nobody could, and if Loki was mad at Louie... Darcy shivered at the thought of the dark days ahead.

Tony glared at Sebastian.

"Tony," said Pepper in a placating tone, "maybe you should ask him _why_ he did it before you do anything rash." Seb seemed to be waiting for an opening to speak so he burst out with his story. Tony's face went from outraged, to puzzled, to worried. After a few well chosen death threats, Seb was carted off to SHIELD headquarters with Clint.

Tony spun around to face them all.

"Someone is trying to break into our systems," he announced angrily, like a little boy might complain about someone cheating in a game of tag.

"Yes, we got that bit," said Steve dryly. "The question is, _why_?"

"I don't know," Tony declared, "and I don't like not knowing."

"Well," said Bruce, "it could be one of a number of reasons. We're probably on this planet's underworld's top wanted list for one. And Tony's tech is vastly advanced so any competitor would die to break through for information. Who knows?"

"Maybe if we can find out what they wanted to take," said Jane, "we'll know what they were after?" Tony nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so what do we do now?" asked Steve.

"If Sebastian was telling the truth, then all he did was break down firewalls. These mystery men must've used those few seconds to download something. I'm going to reboot this Tower and run through every single smidgeon of data myself. Anyone who cares to join me can do so. I need all the hands I can get until I finish running scans on Jarvis." Bruce nodded. Obviously he would be helping. Darcy put her hand up.

"I volunteer."

"And me," said Jane.

"I'm in, obviously," said Natasha. Louie nodded.

"Tell us what you need us to do."

Darcy sighed as she scanned through the binary digits one by one, feeding them into the computer at a glacial pace. She had thought Tony was kidding about running through the data inch by excruciating inch but she had been mistaken. Tony was keeping his word firmly.

"Good job, guys," said Steve encouragingly, "you're about an eighth of the way through." Four angry women sent death glares his way and he blanched.

"If Jarvis was back online this would be done faster," sighed Darcy.

"Tony said he was almost through checking him completely," said Jane, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"That was over two hours ago." Natasha groaned and rolled her shoulders before standing up.

"I say we take a lunch break," she declared. "You guys okay with pizza?"

"I'll come help you order," said Louie, also standing. Natasha eyed her coolly.

"Alright." Darcy watched as Louie paled ever so slightly and left the room with Nat.

"Did something happen last night?" she asked, thumbing the door. Steve, Jane and Bruce looked up, confused.

"Not that I know of," said Bruce frowning, "why do you ask?" Darcy blinked.

"What, none of you noticed the return of the Ice King and that little tiff going on there?" When all she got were three bemused expressions of befuddlement, she sighed in defeat. Remember that thing about being surrounded by super-intelligent people? Yeah, never mind.

"I'll go help out," she said, standing and stretching. She'd make sure nobody (read, Louie) died.

She headed for the kitchen, ears pricked for any sign of a fight. It was worse than Darcy had expected. Louie was in one corner of the kitchen, fiddling with a pamphlet from the pizza place while Natasha was stalking up and down, trying to order.

"Large, yes- Yeah, that's right, I said twenty - _No_ you're not mishearing, I want _twenty_ \- Everything, give me everything and extra cheese and - what? – _yes, I said twenty_!" Under the pretense of getting a drink, Darcy eyed Louie. She was biting her lip nervously.

"Natasha?" she said quietly. Darcy immediately opened the fridge door and hid behind it, peering over the edge.

"Mm?" said Natasha shortly, punching a button on the phone.

"Are you mad at me?"

Natasha crossed her arms and eyed Louie. She looked rather ill but ploughed on.

"I am sorry, you know," she said earnestly, "I was just making up an excuse to uh, fend Loki away, I didn't mean to –" Natasha advanced on her, poker face in place. Louie gulped.

"It was a shitty excuse," said Natasha coldly.

"Yes and I swear I'll come up with something better next time and I'm so sorry, and oh my God, if you're going to decapitate me or something, please make it quick." Louie squeezed her eyes shut. Darcy ducked under the cover of the fridge as Natasha took in a deep breath and-

_Giggled_?

Darcy's head shot back up.

Natasha had her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking silently. Louie gaped and exchanged a wide eyed glance with Darcy.

_Run_, she mouthed to Louie, _run now._

"You're - you're not mad?" Louie asked weakly. Natasha shook her head, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Oh my God," she gasped, "oh my God, your _face_."

"Jesus Christ," muttered Darcy, walking over. Natasha was now double over, her husky laughs making her whole figure shake.

"Should I be scared?" Louie whispered.

"I don't know about you, but I'm terrified," replied Darcy, staring at the redhead. Natasha fanned herself, and cleared her throat.

"I wasn't kidding, it was a shitty excuse," she said sternly and then shrugged, "but hey, you didn't mean anything by it. Besides, I've actually kissed Steve on a mission and Clint understood. An agent's got to do what and agent's got to do."

That was not jealousy coursing fiercely through Darcy's veins. It was not. Louie let out a breath and her shoulders lifted.

"Thank God for that, then. Seriously though, it won't happen again." Natasha waved her hand cheerfully.

"If it does I'll go make out with Loki." Darcy let out a cackle of delight.

"You see!" she said triumphantly, pointing at Louie, "I'm not the only one who picked up on that!" Louie went beet red.

"There is nothing happening between me and Loki," she said firmly, before her expression turned glum. "Especially not now."

"Ah," said Darcy sympathetically, and imitated a really bad British accent "'Ad a bit of a domestic, did we, luv?"

"Yeah, you could say that," she grumbled, dropping into one of the sofas. Natasha sat on one of the high stools at the bar and began tipping herself onto two legs.

"So, tell us girls what happened," she said, stretching out her arms and keeping her balance. It was then that Darcy had the most fabulous, magical, _utterly_ _brilliant_ idea.

"No, wait!" she shouted, diving across the sofa and slamming a hand across Louie's mouth. Ignoring her muffled protests Darcy grinned, her eyes shining.

"Let's have a girl's night out. You can tell us all about it then." Louie's arms worked like windmills and her muffled words got louder. Darcy rolled her eyes, knowing what she was going to say.

"We'll be done with this system reboot thing by tonight - once Jarvis is back online, he'll have it done in a flash. I can't believe we haven't done this before - it'll be a great team bonding exercise!" Louie wrenched her face free.

"But-"

"Natasha, what do you think?" interrupted Darcy. "What do you say to a night of drinks and dancing, just us girls?" Natasha shrugged and smiled.

"Sounds like fun," she said. Louie's jaw hit the floor.

"Who are you and what have you done with Natasha Romanoff?" she demanded. Natasha simply winked.

* * *

**Louie POV**

I stared at my wardrobe with a sigh. Okay. Dress to impress. Not that I had particular dressing skills that were commendable. I eyed the scruffy tank top and shorts I wore. On the bathroom sink, my hair iron beeped as it signaled being hot enough.

"Oh my God," I muttered, putting my hands on my hips. If anyone walked in now, they'd have a heart attack. I stood wearing nothing but my underwear among discarded t-shirts, jeans and even a few sweaters.

"Drinks and dancing," I said aloud. Drinks and dancing. I was panicking now.

"Louie." I shrieked and dove onto the bed, burying myself under the covers.

"Don't you know to knock?" I cried, my face aflame. Darcy just laughed.

"Get out here," she said. I firmly wrapped myself in a sheet and rose.

"I thought you might be having a fashion crisis so I got you something." Darcy smirked and held out a dress.

A _dress_.

"It's a dress," I said with distaste.

"And the prize goes to the girl in the sheet," said Darcy rolling her eyes. "Of course it's a dress." She gestured behind her. "We're all wearing one."

"All- all of you?" Over Darcy's shoulder I could see Natasha, Jane and Pepper approaching.

"How the hell did you manage to pry Pepper away from the company?" I asked, surprised. Darcy winked.

"You have your skill set, I have mine."

"Remind me to always find you when I want something done," I mumbled.

I eyed the dress again. It was a simple, lacy thing, a navy blue in colour, pulled in at the waist and falling to just above my knees.

"I don't do dresses," I said, nose still wrinkled in distaste.

"But you wore one in Asgard," said Jane. "Thor told me."

"Yeah, well, that was different." I folded my arms, biting my lip. In truth, it wasn't the dress. It was the women that had now invaded my room. Jane wore a flowy turquoise dress, showing off her petite frame, her hair loose and pale lipstick on her lips. Pepper had traded her customary white suit for a bold red dress, with matching lipstick. Natasha had gone for a shimmery gold dress, clashing magnificently with her fiery red hair and cut daringly high at the bottom. Darcy had opted for a black dress, cinched at the waist, with dramatic cat-eyes eyeliner for flair and her hair done in waves that rivaled mine. They all looked like they'd walked straight off a magazine. I gulped, suddenly wishing I was staying back, lolling around in a t-shirt in the labs.

"It's not going to eat you, Louie," said Darcy patiently. "Just put it on and give us a twirl."

"We're not leaving until you do," said Jane. She gave me a sweet smile and batted her eyes. I slumped in defeat, snatching the dress out of Darcy's hand and stalking into the bathroom. Stupid doe eyes. Thankful I had thought to shave my legs earlier that morning, I pulled on the dress.

"I suppose it will do," I said to myself. Taking a deep breath, I took the hair iron into my hand.

* * *

**Darcy POV**

Darcy hummed as she flung open Louie's wardrobe.

"Should you be doing that?" asked Jane.

"Maybe not. But - Aha!" she said, holding a pair of black stilettos out in victory. Darcy knocked on the bathroom door and passed the shoes in through the minuscule crack that Louie opened the door to show. A few minutes later, the door opened wider and Louie stepped out. Darcy whistled in approval.

"You look lovely, Louie," beamed Pepper.

Louie ducked her head shyly and gave then a twirl. Darcy proudly gave herself a pat on the back for impeccable taste. The dress clung to Louie like it was made for her. Her wavy waist length hair seemed even longer because she'd straightened it out and she'd put on some light makeup with a dark red on her lips. The high heels gave her hourglass figure length and made her stand up straighter.

"Thank you for the dress," Louie said softly. Darcy winked.

"No problem, honey. Now let's get out of here before Happy bursts in wondering if we we're kidnapped from our own rooms."

"That man," sighed Pepper, shaking her head.

"I think he's a sweetheart for taking his job so seriously," declared Jane.

"Yeah, but if we don't hurry, sweetheart or no, whoever bursts in will be kicked in the nuts by yours truly," said Natasha.

"Delicate," winced Darcy, "real delicate."

"I don't like surprises," shrugged Natasha.

They all trooped out of the room, chattering loud enough for Dummy and his apprentices (no smarter) to look up in interest. And they were down in the labs. They entered the living room area to wait for Happy and his entourage to appear. Tony and Bruce were lounging in the area, in an oh-so casual manner, making Darcy fairly sure this was an ambush of sorts.

"Excuse me," said Tony, "just where do you think you're going?" Pepper rolled her eyes.

"We told you we were going out."

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind. I'll throw you a party in my room instead." He added the last bit in a low, sultry voice, eyeing Pepper. Pepper blushed and shoved him.

"Stop that," she said, "you know we're going to go anyway."

"So let us come with you," he said, indicating himself and Bruce, who was staring at his phone screen with a slight smile on his face. Tony rolled his eyes at him.

"Useless wingman," he muttered, "utterly useless."

"No," declared Darcy, waving her finger threateningly, "it's _girls'_ night Tony; we're going to have a couple of shots and discuss in detail many feminine things - things not good for Jarvis' delicate ears."

"Thank you for your concern, Miss Lewis" said the AI dryly, "I believe I might temporarily malfunction if I were to hear your fascinating conversations ever again." Darcy scowled at the ceiling.

"Hey Tony, your computer's broken again."

"No, my sarcasm levels are just at 90 percent," replied Jarvis smartly.

"Anyway," put in Jane hastily, "we did promise to stick to the high end, er, _safer_ clubs Tony. Don't worry. We'll be fine."

"Yes, you did. And you're staying in Happy's sight. And you're all keeping your comms on you. And you're not to even _breathe_ in the direction of other men-" Natasha drew herself up to her full, menacing height.

"I'm sorry; could you run those alpha male rules by me _one_ more time?" she said, smiling venomously. Tony shut up, eyeing her as if she was a particularly dangerous animal. Pepper smirked when Tony pouted in her direction.

"Don't look at me, you asked for it."

"Just don't do anything reckless, okay?" sighed Tony, rubbing his eyes, "I'll have hell to answer for from the others if anything happens to any of you."

"We won't, Dad, we promise," said Louie cheerily as the elevator dinged, announcing the arrival of Happy, "and we promise to be home before bedtime."

"Yeah, you better," he said to their retreating backs, raising his voice as the doors slid shut, "and don't bring back any idiots, I don't think Loki would appreci-" The rest was cut off but everyone in the elevator got the gist. Louie looked at the ceiling and started humming tunelessly while Natasha and Darcy exchanged knowing glances. Everyone shifted around little to allow breathing space for four bodyguards and five women.

On one before the last floor of the Avengers Initiative, the door slid open. Louie froze, a slow pink creeping up her face. Darcy discreetly leaned against the buttons, holding the door open and allowing Loki to get an eyeful of Louie in her dress. Natasha caught her eye and grinned.

"So, Loki, give us an Asgardian's opinion. Does Louie look nice?" she asked sweetly.

"Oh yeah, do tell us," Darcy added wickedly, "she keeps thinking she doesn't." Loki blinked, but his eyes never left Louie.

"I think I'll take the stairs," he said quietly.

"What, doesn't she look nice?" asked Jane, looking offended. "Louie threw her a betrayed glare. Loki sighed angrily.

"You all look lovely," he said tonelessly. "Now if you would excuse me, I have some reading to catch up on."

"But what about Louie?" Pepper pressed.

"Et tu, Pepper?" muttered Louie through gritted teeth.

"Mai, bien sur," she hissed back, grinning. Loki clearly realised he wouldn't be allowed to leave without giving what the women deemed a sufficient answer so he looked Louie over once, quickly.

"It's a becoming dress. But your hair is better in its waves." With that, he gave her one last look turned on his heel and walked away.

The elevator doors shut and Darcy stared firmly at the door, refusing to make eye contact in case the giggles in her stomach bubbled over. There was a split second of silence.

"I hate all of you," said Louie.

And with that, the four miscreants burst out laughing.

* * *

**Louie POV**

The club was loud. Really, really loud. The kind of loud I knew would give me a headache in ten minutes.

"This is your idea of places for conversation?" I shouted to be heard.

"Yes," yelled Darcy, "so tell us, what gives?" A waiter bore down on us a tray of drinks in hand. Happy ushered us to the back of the club, where he kicked a couple of youngsters necking out of a private booth. Deeming it safe enough, he all but flung us inside and shut the door.

"Is he still sweet?" Natasha asked Jane sarcastically.

Jane was saved the need to answer when Darcy sat me down and pressed a shot into my hand.

"Tell us everything," she said sagely.

* * *

Three hours in, nobody was dancing and everybody was drinking.

"And then, he kissed me!" beamed Pepper , blushing prettily. As standard protocol when one gets their first kiss from their one true love, the ladies oohed and aahhed.

"I wish Steve would kiss me," sighed Darcy, dipping a French fry into her ice cream.

"I can tell you firsthand, he's not very good," said Natasha blandly, before winking, "he needs someone to practice with." I sipped my colourful drink.

"So, how good a kisser is Thor?" leered Pepper. Jane laughed openly. Vodka really did loosen tongues. The normally quiet woman was now grinning away.

"Very good," she admitted. My mind immediately flashed to another Asgardian. I'll bet anything he was very good too, being Silvertongue and all.

"Uh oh," laughed Darcy, "someone else is thinking about kissing certain demigods."

"How would you know?" I said haughtily.

"You get that dreamy look in your eyes," said Pepper, making a flamboyant hand gesture to explain. Jane leaned towards me.

"It's in your eyes," she whispered loudly, "you have v-e-e-ry beautiful eyes."

"I think that's enough shots for you," said Pepper, sliding her glass out of reach. Jane stared sadly at the empty air where her drink had been.

"I think that's enough shots for all of us," chuckled Natasha. Happy seemed to be waiting for a cue to take away the booze because in a flash, it was gone. Five different sighs emitted from us as we all leaned back in our chairs. For the first time, I was completely comfortable around these powerful women.

"I think," Pepper declared happily after a moment of silence, "we're all going to be very good friends." Darcy nodded solemnly, and raised her ice cream in a toast.

"To the hangover we'll have tomorrow," she proclaimed. There was a round of laughter as a couple of fries, a napkin, a straw and a spoon were raised to echo her toast loudly.

* * *

**A/N: **I told you it was complete crack. And yeah, I guess I wanted to also point out the face that the Marvel women are utterly gorgeous and Lord, who _wouldn't_ find the prospect of being seen in the evenings with them daunting? I know I would. Beyond that, really they all behaved like children because, well, I'm the author and I say they can.

(Can you imagine the fate of the Marvelverse if it was in my hands?)

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed! Thanks so much to all those who have followed and favourited the story - it's lovely to see so many people interested in it :) I'm truly so glad.

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time, lovelies,

Much love,

xo


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note: **Okay, I'm late, and I'M SORRY, I HAVE A VALID EXCUSE. My laptop broke. And so I couldn't type. Nevertheless, it's fixed and so, I give you, the replies to the reviews and then, the next chapter! Enjoy my lovelies!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Marvel. Yeesh. I think that's fairly obvious by now. I do own Louie and the Typos. Haha, that sounds like an eighties band name. I should probably sleep.

**Theatre:** Aw, well, don't worry about it, there's gonna be a whole load of Louie-Loki stuff I got planned and hopefully it will be great :D I actually didn't include all the girl's stories in that chapter because I wanted to introduce them gradually throughout the story, haha :3 you'll see what I'm talking about soon enough. Thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter. (I await the list of typos)

**AinsleyWright: **God, I cannot WAIT until we get to that part! I can't wait to write it out - I have so many different ideas planned on how it could happen, and it's killing me to have to choose! Sorry for the long wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

**PhantomLion: **I'm glad you like the slow burn - personally it's killing me to not have them just jump each other already. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like this chapter :D

**Queen Martha Pond:** I'm so glad you like my Darcy, I'm always a little nervous when writing a POV for the first time. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like this next chapter :3

**royalrandoms4969: **SO sorry it took so long! But, here you are! Enjoy, and thanks for leaving a review

**Everon Prime: **Thanks so much for leaving a review! I'm so glad you like the story :D I hope you enjoy this next chapter too.

And now, I give you, Chapter 14 :3

* * *

**Chapter 14**

**Natasha POV**

Natasha swirled her drink thoughtfully as bit by bit, Louie unveiled her worries. It was admittedly, slightly predictable and Natasha chastised her self for not seeing it coming. Louie had brains, yes, but she was a young woman, with emphasis on the _young_. Unbelievable perception on Louie's part had made all of them forget that in reality, she was still a girl who had barely left college. Her brains and composure spoke differently, but her growing feelings for Loki... well, they should all have seen it coming.

"So let me get this straight," said Darcy, putting her chin in her hands, "you have the hots for the other demigod and now he hates your guts."

"No, I most definitely do not _have the hots for him,"_ said Louie tartly, "I just -," she took in a deep breath, "- I just don't know where I stand with him." Natasha nodded.

"It's a difficult place to be," she said placidly.

"Considering he's got a criminal record, yeah," agreed Darcy and made a face when Jane kicked her. Louie deflated a little more.

"Yeah," she murmured sadly. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Stop," she said plainly, using her Training-Coach voice. It usually worked wonders and today it did not fail her. Louie snapped to attention immediately.

"Stop what?"

"Stop this pity party," Natasha said dryly. "You say you don't have feelings for him and well, if that's so, then we'll accept that." (Here, Natasha chose to ignore Darcy's loud snort) "Whatever said and done, you're acting like a child about this. Stop tiptoeing around him and go make amends. God knows we can't stand him when he's a cranky bitch."

"What do you suggest I do?" Louie asked, equally dryly, "jump him?" Natasha shrugged.

"He's still on SHIELD's bad side. Personally, I find it hard to trust someone who has the words "mischief" and "lies" in his job description. But," she added, noticing Louie's slightly crestfallen face, "I'm not you. And you know him better than most."

Louie shook her head, "No, not particularly. It's not like I know his favourite colour, or his childhood pet's name or any of-"

"Louie," said Jane, reaching for her hand, "I think what Natasha means is something a little less materialistic. You can definitely understand him more than we can - how else can you two get along without any bloodshed?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe he's playing mind games with me!" The sentence trailed off into a wail as Louie buried her face in her hands.

"Alright now, stop that," said Darcy sternly, shoving another drink into her hand. "We're here to enjoy ourselves, not sit around and pine. Oh," she added, with a little nudge, "I'm pretty sure his favourite colour is green." Louie grinned for a moment before her face fell back into lines of worry.

"Okay, enough of this," said Pepper, "let's talk about something else."

"Oh yeah?" said Darcy, "how about you tell us about you and Tony?" Pepper sighed.

"I suppose I walked into that one."

* * *

**Happy POV**

Happy watched as the five women spent a while chatting amiably and then hit it off on the dance floor.

"I don't like this," he grumbled.

"_Neither do I. What's the status?_"

"They do what women do when they get together at a club," Happy made an unnecessary hand gesture to emphasise his point, "They dance, they attack innocent young men in packs and they leave them high and dry before going off and dancing some more."

"_Treacherous, I know_," agreed Tony. "_Keep them in your sights_."

"Will do." Happy sighed and crossed his arms when a thundering blow to the back of his had sent him sprawling across the dance floor. He didn't hear the cries of shock, or Pepper screaming his name. He didn't see the heavily armed men enter the club and attempt to manhandle his charges out. He didn't see the fight they put up, or the blows they gave and and received in equal intensity.

He didn't see any of it.

* * *

**Louie POV**

Nobody saw it coming. One minute it was a loud raucous crowd, dancing to their hearts contents, next, the _rat-a-tat-tat_ of gunfire opened out and people started falling.

"Happy!" screamed Pepper, moving towards him, only to be pulled back by Natasha.

"Stay down!" she ordered, and pulled up her dress, taking a gun out of her thigh holster. I snapped my fingers once or twice, flames appearing at my fingertips. Pepper grabbed Darcy and Jane.

"Get to the car," Natasha ordered. The club was in chaos, glass littering the floor and people shouting and heading for the exits. Darcy was about to reply when something hit her across the face, hard, knocking her to the ground.

"Darcy!" cried Jane. Her friend was a few feet away, and suddenly, shadows reached out of the dark and began pulling her towards the exit.

"No! No!" Jane lunged for Darcy and tugged, holding her back. I shot fireball into the dark and helped Jane pry away the horrible tentacle like hands from Darcy's unconscious form.

"Get behind the bar!" yelled Natasha, "get behind the bar!" I pointed my fingers at the bar and with a gust of wind, cleaned away the debris at the bottom.  
The tentacle-like things were approaching and this time in my direction. As a cold, clammy vine wrapped itself around my ankle, I flung a bottle of vodka in its direction and sent fireballs chasing it. There was a terrible screech as the tentacles writhed, before they retracted. The exit door opened slightly and a figure disappeared into the night.

We dove for cover behind the bar. Overhead, bottles burst into pieces at the bullets fired at them.

"What's going on?" asked Jane, terrified.

"We need help," Pepper punched her comm repeatedly. "They're not working. _Why are they not working_?"

I looked around the corner. Natasha was firing rapidly, at the same time trying to make sure people were getting out safely. She was winning and losing in equal amounts. Suddenly, one man charged at her, dodging her bullets and punching her hard. Natasha stumbled, dizzy. I cursed our stupidity at getting so tipsy. The man picked Natasha up and bodily flung her towards the wall.

Natasha hit the glass cases above our heads and slid to the ground. Pepper screamed.

The agent sat up, groaning.

"I'm okay. I've had worse."

I peered over the edge of the bar. Ten men, heavily armed, with guns, knives and other such weapons were still taking out the others in the club. A bunch of them were pressing against the walls in fear, some crying, others looking pale with fear. Our bodyguards lay on the floor, unmoving. There was blood trickling from one of them.

Happy stirred feebly over in the corner.

"Alright," said one of the men loudly. "We're here for the Stark party. Come out, slowly." The man had white blonde hair and an oddly familiar voice. Fear shot into my heart. I ducked back down, looking at Darcy's unconscious form, Natasha's grim expression and the fear in Pepper and Jane's eyes. I realised that fear was probably mirrored in my own eyes.

"We have got to get out of here," I whispered.

"How?" Jane whispered back. "Darcy's out cold, and Happy is still out there, not to mention at least a dozen innocent people. We need to get them all out, and only you and Natasha have even a minute chance against them."

I swallowed, thinking hard.

"Okay," I said, taking a deep breath and calming myself. "We need to get their attention away from us and onto something else." Out there, one of the men gave out orders.

"Guard the doors and start sweeping this place from top to bottom. We need to find them." Natasha got onto her knees, reloading her gun.

"I'll distract them," she said, a determined expression on her face. "Get Darcy out and into the car. Then call Tony."

"I'm staying with you," I said, "Ten against one is hardly fair and someone needs to get the bodyguards out." Natasha nodded.

"Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"

"On three?" I asked, grinning weakly. Natasha nodded. Pepper hoisted one of Darcy's arms around her shoulders, while Jane took the other.

"One," I whispered, as the liquor around me rose into globules.

"Two." They hardened into golden icicles.

"_Three!_" I leaped out over the bar, aiming for all ten men in one go.

Two went down immediately and Natasha took out the man near the exit.

"Go!" She yelled and covered them as a crowd of people, including Pepper, Jane and Darcy rushed out of the club.

There were seven men left and two were armed with guns. They had to go first. I dodged the bullets left and right, heading for these two first. Scared as I was, my mind was astonishingly clear. Everything seemed to happen slower. I doused one man in liquor and set his leg alight. With a yell he tried to stamp it out and I punched him in the jaw, sending him sprawling.

A bullet whizzed past my head and I flung my arms outwards. The shooter went flying backwards. Knocking the gun out of his hand, I hit him in the throat and gut, before getting him hard in the knee. I winced as he yelled in pain and crumpled to the floor. Maybe I was a little too harsh.

There was a strangled sort of screaming behind me and another man went down, Natasha having choked him with the thin belt of her gold dress.

"Functional," I commented, my eyes travelling over the bodies.

"One, three, five, eight," Natasha muttered. "Where are the other two?"

"Drop your weapons," snarled a voice to my right. Natasha and I spun around. One man had knife at Happy's throat while the other had a machine gun pointed at the other two guards. With a sickening lurch, I realised that our fourth bodyguard was dead.

"I said," he said menacingly, "drop em."

"You men are such idiots," sighed Natasha. Then she moved fasted than I've ever seen her move. One shot clean and precise, and the man on Happy was crumpling before he even had a chance to rearrange his expressions. I went for the other one, and flung him backwards so hard his head hit the marble bar with a resounding crack. He slipped to the ground and lay there unmoving, eyes wide open, clearly dead. My heart dropped to my stomach. He was _dead_. I had just killed a man in cold blood.

"Come on," said Natasha, holstering her gun. "Let's get these three out of here."

I nodded and firmly avoided looking at our dead bodyguard. I knew that man. I'd smiled at him, just half an hour ago. Fighting down bile, I helped Happy up, and helped him out the door.

"Pepper ?" I called. There was no answer. The back of my neck prickled uneasily. It was unusually silent. Where were the other party goers? I hurried to the car as fast as I could. The three women were nowhere in sight.

"Pepper?" I said, louder, breathing harshly.

"Shit," swore Natasha staring at the rear wheel. I followed her gaze and my heart dropped to my stomach. Splayed on the ground was a mass of mousy brown hair.

"_Jane!_"

I sprinted forward, almost tripping on my heels. Her eyes were closed and there was a large gash on her forehead.

"Jane," I almost sobbed, cradling her face. She opened her eyes slightly.

"Oh, thank God," I said, tears threatening to spill over.

"He - took - them," rasped Jane. She was fading in and out, I could tell. "The tentacle man - he was - waiting - outside-" I leaned against the car, mind whirling. He took them, while we were being distracted in the club.

Darcy and Pepper were gone.

I barely registered the police sirens in the distance or even the Avengers plane that positioned itself above us, dropping down Thor and Steve. Natasha had to pry my hands off Jane so Thor could gently pick her up and fly her to the craft. I barely registered Steve telling me to hold on as the cable drew me upwards to the plane, him tapping my face and asking me if I was okay.

"They took them," I said numbly. They took them. They took Darcy and Pepper. They took them. A small part of my mind comprehended the fact that Natasha must have been the one to call the Tower for help. Tony - Tony would have answered.

I jerked so violently that Steve jumped backward. I gripped his arm tightly.

"Tony," I said, urgently "Tony has to know-" Steve nodded, his eyes kind.

"He knows," the Captain whispered. I nodded. I felt cold, numb. Infinitely stupid.

"I should have gone out with them. The fire had kept the thing away. I could've stopped them from being taken. I could've-" I wrung my hands in agitation. In my head, the image of skull hitting marble kept playing over and over. Natasha sat next to me, her hand drawing slow circles on my back.

"Don't beat yourself up, Louie," she whispered, "we did our best, and we'll get them back, we will..." I pursed my lips and nodded even though the doubt still surged through me.

I felt empty. Suddenly, I missed my mom more than ever. I needed her so badly, and the warmth of her arms. She would know what to do. She would.

The minute the craft landed, the injured were rushed out. Tony was waiting for us on the landing pad. I walked towards him, almost expecting him to turn and walk away - Tony wasn't big on emotions - but to my surprise and gratitude, he cupped my face in his hands, looking into my eyes searchingly.

"You're okay?" he asked, his voice shaky. I nodded.

"Tony," I said my voice thick with tears, "I'm sorry- I-"

"Hey," he said shaking his head. "No, you did good. You did good okay, sweetheart? We'll get them back." He sounded far surer than I felt. I nodded miserably. Tony gestured the door behind him where a lone figure was standing.

"You should probably get someone to check your injuries," he said softly. I gave him one last glance, trying to shove all my emotions into it and walked as fast as I could towards Loki.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki stood in the shadows, alongside Bruce and Tony, waiting for the plane to return. He had known the minute the call had come through, that something was very, very wrong. Natasha's voice had filled the library too.

"_Avengers, we need help. We've been attacked, two of us taken, one dead, four wounded._" The message then cut off, and Loki had been left with a hollow feeling of fear, coursing through his veins.

One dead... one dead.. the thought frantically ran through his mind. Who? _Who_? He was sure the second phone call that Tony answered personally had filled him in but Loki was too much of a coward to ask him.

The faint whirring of an engine signaled the craft's approach and Loki drew in a sharp breath.

_Please Gods, don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead..._

The injured four were taken out first, Bruce running forwards to help and Natasha, Steve and Thor taking two others and Jane. Loki's heart clenched for a moment. Where was she?

A lone figure exited the plane last and Loki recognized the long hair. He held the wall in relief. She was safe. She was fine. Louie spoke to Tony for a minute before glancing his way. She headed for him, all but running. By pure instinct, he moved forward, out of the shadows.

"Loki," she breathed, her face crumpling, "Loki, I fucked up - I fucked up." She was breaking, Loki realised. Without thinking twice, he reached for her. He didn't quite know how it happened but then, his hands were clutching hers tightly, and she was standing with her nose pressed against his chest, almost hyperventilating.

She clung to him like he was the only thing holding her grounded to the world.

She was scared, he realised. Scared of what she had seen. Worry immediately filled his mind. What _had _she seen? She had seen someone she know die. She might have killed someone. She saw her friend being taken. Too much. It was too much.

She half wrenched her hands away, wringing them tightly, frantically, her eyes moving from him to the Tower to some blank spot in the distance, thinking hard, worrying about something. She almost trembled and sank to her knees, fingers twisting, clenching tightly. Loki knelt next to her. He missed her contact but he was scared to touch her.

A small part of his mind recoiled at all the contact, at such a violent display of emotions, at how weak and pathetic mortals were, but Loki ignored that part of him. It wasn't fair of him to put such a label on her. It struck him how frail a human truly was, and for once, he didn't look upon them with frustration or scorn. He looked upon them with pity.

Louie's body heaved with dry sobs, and Loki stayed there, next to her, and watched . Her eyes were wide and blank, staring unseeingly into the distance.

"I fucked up," she said in a low voice, "so bad." Loki didn't say anything. Instead he knelt quietly, until Tony walked over and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go," he said in a surprisingly strong voice, "we have to work on this while we're ahead. The sooner we get on it, the faster a rescue will happen."

Loki felt an enormous amount of respect for the man - he was holding himself together exceedingly well. Next to him, Louie stiffened. Loki naturally followed suit, noticing the angry aura licking her body. She kicked off her heels and pulled her hair back into a braid.

"Let's do this," she said, her voice smooth. They hurried down the stairs and to the conference room.

"I also have some news on what was downloaded," said Tony striding along in front of them.

"What was it?" Tony eyed Louie worriedly.

He entered the conference room where everyone was waiting for them. Thor was next to Jane, who looked very pale with a white bandage marring her pretty face. Louie went to her immediately and Jane hugged her.

"I'm so sorry," Louie whispered. Jane hugged her back, her eyes filled with worry. Tony flicked on a switch and a screen came up.

* * *

**Louie POV**

"So I went through everything and came up with nothing. No virus was released, no info on any of us was taken. The only thing that _was_ taken," the screen came to life, "was a few seconds of video surveillance from our rooms."

I inhaled sharply. It was footage of Loki and me from the day I cut his hair. My back was towards the camera as I snipped this hair from the front. I ignored some of the glances shot my way. The screen switched off.

"That's it? Natasha asked. Tony nodded and rubbed his forehead.

"It didn't make any sense to me until they took Pepper and Darcy." Tony walked up and down, trying to form coherent sentences.

"Well, we can assume we know why they took Pepper. Your relationship is public knowledge and they must know you'd do anything to get her back after the Mandarin incident," Bruce put in. Natasha folded her arms and looked at Tony.

"Yeah, but why take Darcy?"

"Added leverage?" shrugged Steve, also pacing. Tony pointed at the blank screen, where the haircut had been shown just seconds ago.

"But that wasn't Darcy," said Jane, frowning, "that was Louie." But my eyes were zoning in on my messy black hair, hanging down my back in wild curls.

"Oh. Oh, the fucking _idiots_," I said, gaping.

Tony nodded grimly. "My thoughts exactly."

* * *

"Sir, we have them, come through here."

The door creaked as it opened. There was a pause and then, a hiss of exasperation.

"You fucking idiot!"

"S-sir?" There was a crash as a fist slammed into the door.

"You fucking _idiot_, it's the wrong girl!"

* * *

**Bruce POV**

"Excuse me," said Bruce, frowning, "what did we miss here?" Louie's face was buried in her hands.

"Oh my God, of all the _stupid_, _moronic _coincidences-" she broke off, swearing. Tony shook his head.

"Look at her hair Brucie, and tell me it doesn't remind you of another dark haired, curly head we know."

"Oh, hell," said Steve, frozen in mid-pace. Louie tugged her now straight mane, pacing up and down herself.

"She even did it in curls tonight, like mine. It would have been an easy mistake to make in the dark club. She and I aren't that different in a sense."

"Not true," corrected Loki, almost inaudibly.

"Excuse me?" asked Louie, frowning. Loki rolled his eyes.

"You are far taller, your skin is a shade darker, your face is more oval shaped. Your hair is longer and it is _black,_any fool can see that. Your eyes are bigger and a more interesting shade of brown." A silence greeted his words. Louie stared, her mouth hanging open. Bruce almost smiled.

"Yes, well," she said, collecting herself, "but this video doesn't show my face." Tony nodded.

"Which is why I though the same thing. It was taken from above, at an angle; so it would be easy to mistake their height. I'm guessing, in the chaos they just mistook the two and kidnapped Darcy instead of Louie."

"So we can safely assume taking Darcy was a mishap on their part?" asked Thor.

"Does that mean she's safe?" breathed Jane.

"Or does that mean she's worthless to them and therefore dispensable?" put in Loki quietly.

* * *

**Darcy POV**

Darcy's mouth felt thick and bitter and her head pounded as she came back into the world of the living. Slowly she looked around. Pepper was staring at her, eyes wide and terrified. They lit up with relief as she blinked slowly.

"What-?" She started to say when Pepper shook her head violently, raising her hands to press a finger to her lips. Her hands were bound. It was then Darcy comprehended that it was unusually dark and dank inside this tiny room they were in. Also, the tiny room seemed to be moving. Also, she was kind of lying on her side, a few feet away from Pepper, whose hands and feet were bound together.

Darcy looked down at her own hands and they were bound too, tightly and painfully. It was a crudely done job. She edged closer to Pepper, until they were both sitting side by side against a hard metal wall, and observed her surroundings. The inside if a truck was what it felt like - they were one the move.

"What happened?" she whispered hoarsely.

"You were knocked out," Pepper whispered back, "there was a fight at the club and they took us. We've been travelling since. It's been hours, and I'm pretty sure the sun is up."

"We have got to get out of here," said Darcy, her wrists itching in discomfort. Pepper nodded, her lips pressed together. Then, she raised her bound hands to her lips and started to chew. The cord around her wrists was sharp, but it was thin. Darcy raised it to her lips. Plastic. She bit it with an incisor.

It was hot inside the vehicle and Darcy was feeling mighty uncomfortable. Her dress was meant for nights out and comfortable couches, not sitting on her butt inside a moving truck. The fabric felt heavy and her skin felt sticky.

"I despise being kidnapped," sighed Pepper in a very fed up tone.

"A common occurrence, I take it?" asked Darcy dryly. Before Pepper could answer, the truck screeched to a halt.

"Don't chew all the way through your bindings," instructed Pepper, eyes on the door. Darcy nodded.

"I hope you have a plan, Pepper, because I sure as hell don't."

* * *

**A/N:** Gee, that escalated quickly. Now I hope you forgive me for taking so long to write this chapter, I worked super hard on getting it _just right. _And we're really on a roll, aren't we?

I hope you don't view Darcy and Louie as too similar, I just mean that they both have the Fair Skin, Dark Hair thing going for them. If you're asking yourself, why would people make such a stupid mistake, well, it happens. Trust me, I've heard a real life story with an even more unbelievable mix up.

Anyhoo, hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write :3 If you enjoyed it, well then, please leave a review and let me know what you think :D I love to hear from you guys.

Also, thanks a million for the follows and favourites everyone, I'm so very happy :))))

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Note:** Hello, hello, hello :D This one is a longer chapter than usual.

Replies to reviews:

**Queen Martha Pond:** Yeah, they really, really are. Their boss must be really desperate to have hired them ;) And Pepper is totally the responsible mum in this story :3 I also wanted to make it a point to describe the actual horror in killing someone. We see it happen all the time in movies but take it lightly. We don't ever truly realize the gravity of the action and so when Louie finally realizes what she has done, she is truly horrified, especially since she was just an ordinary young woman for a long time, suddenly thrust into this dangerous world. Thanks so much for the review; I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**LilliannaStone:** *dumps a bucket of Loki-Louie things into the chapter*. I hope you liiiike :D Thanks for the review, and there's a little action in this chapter too! Enjoy!

**PhantomLion:** Why thanks very much! :D I hope you enjoy this chapter and the many chapters to come :)

**Devicorn:** New readers, yay! :D I'm so glad you like the story, and I hope you'll like the chapters that are yet to come! So glad to hear that Loki and Louie's relationship is not moving too fast or anything. I really, really do not want to do that. This story brushes off the darker side of Loki as it is and that could have been a key factor in making their relationship rocky, if I had chosen to write a more angsty story. I want to maintain SOME semblance of realistic progress. If they suddenly start doing each other I don't think it would hold true to Loki's nature or to my common sense. That being said, in this here chapter, I hope you get an insight into Loki and Louie's thoughts about each other.

Hope you all enjoy :)

**Disclaimer, disclaimer, etc, etc.**

* * *

**Chapter 15**

**Loki POV**

Loki observed Louie without even bothering to hide the fact that he had been staring at her for the past ten minutes. He was conflicted, in body and soul. That is to say, his body wanted things his soul condemned to the depths of Hel.

It annoyed him _so much_.

Now that she was safe and back in his vicinity, all Loki could think about was the frustrating fact that her hair was slowly curling once more, her face was devoid of any of the makeup and that nonsense on a stick that women applied to their mouths and he found that more attractive than anything. When she had on a dress and had done her face up with powders and colours she had looked enticing, yes, but she had intimidated Loki. She looked different and Loki was even more aware of her lips when they were painted red. And he didn't like it one bit. He didn't like that he was intimidated, he didn't like that he was attracted and worst of all, he didn't _not_ like it either.

This Louie, the one who didn't particularly care if she threw on a shirt or a pillow case, her, he was more comfortable with. Her, he could deal with.

Meanwhile, Louie was working herself into a nervous wreck, as was Tony, somewhere in the Tower.

"The scanner should have found them by now," she said, wringing her hands.

"Didn't Stark mention something about the communication devices malfunctioning?" Loki asked idly. To be quite frank, he wasn't very concerned about the disappearance of the women. People always showed up in the end - it was only a question of whether they were dead or alive when they did.

Louie seemed quite affected though, behaving as if those of her own blood had been taken. Loki put it down to sentiment, another very mortal affection. He firmly ignored the fact that Thor was, at the moment, devastated too; he was unusually fond of the small dark-haired one. Louie nodded absently.

"They wouldn't work in the club either. It's really weird. Nothing could have been able to stop the comms like that."

"And yet..." Loki trailed off, fiddling with the cuff of his shirt. He was barefoot once more, and Louie was sitting across from him, feet tucked under her tense form. These Midgardian clothes weren't as comfortable as Asgardian silks, but they would suffice for the time being. Louie tugged on the hem of her overlarge t-shirt tiredly. Loki fought the urge to reach over and straighten it.

"It's been hours. They would most definitely know about the mistake by now. So why aren't they contacting us? What do they want?"

"Well if we knew who they were, it would be less complicated," Loki muttered. He looked at Louie. "Tell me about the tentacles again."

"Dark, cold, kind of octopus like. It didn't like fire at all," she recited immediately, like she had to the others. "Tony thinks it's a mutant of some kind."

"Possibly, yes," said Loki. He had been filled in on the mortals in the world with special abilities and was currently regretting not educating himself about them before he arrived on Midgard. They would have made valuable allies when he had wanted to obtain the Tesseract.

Louie fidgeted, glancing at the clock repeatedly.

"It'll be noon soon," she half whispered. She glanced at him nervously, eyes skittering away when he met her gaze.

Loki knew Louie too was thinking about the past few days, mulling over them in her head, worrying absently about the grounds of their – _relationship_ \- for want of a better word. He knew it from the way she hadn't even come near him after that moment of weakness last night.

Loki very badly wanted things to return to normal, when they squabbled like children over books and lessons and Louie always treated him like he was a rather difficult friend rather than a mass murderer. But ever since that night in Louie's room, the dynamic had changed for the worse.

Sometimes he wanted to just charm his way back into her good books. He was clever with his words; they didn't call him Silvertongue for nothing and Odin's spells could not ever completely eradicate his way of enticing someone with his mouth. That was simply an inborn talent.

Yet it felt so wrong to do that to Louie. She was clever and insightful but she was the farthest thing from dishonest. Working his ways on her seemed fundamentally _wrong_. It was like forcing Stark to give up tinkering and take up knitting - although that might keep them all amused for an afternoon.

Nevertheless, the only way to deal with this odd little dance they were doing around each other was to approach it head on.

"Is there something else on your mind?" Loki asked. "You seem unusually agitated." Louie shook her head, cheeks flushing. Loki prodded her mind telepathically. She pointed at him warningly.

"Stay out of my head." Loki crossed him arms and smirked in triumph.

"So you _are_ hiding something from me?" Louie's jaw ticked in irritation.

"You irk me like no man's ever irked me before."

"I'm no man, my dear," he replied idly. Louie flinched, the fight going out of her. Loki frowned.

"Did I say something wrong?" Louie shook her head at once. Loki sighed. Really, add lying to the list of things he had to teach her.

"If it weren't for a remarkable lack of magic, mortal, I'd have the answer out of you before you could spell your name. Would you please just _tell_ me what's wrong without tiptoeing around me on stocking clad feet?" he said irritably. Louie's eyes widened and she let out a snort of laughter.

"What?" he snapped.

"Nothing," she said, still grinning. Sighing, she shifted closer to him, running her fingers through her hair.

"I killed a man," she said finally, "last night. It was the first time I'd ever done something like that. And I felt terrible." She pressed her lips together, saying no more.

Loki pursed his lips. Although he was sure that was not exactly what she had been thinking about at that moment, he knew immediately this had been bothering her for a spell. He could see it in her eyes - the silent horror, the shame, the guilt.

"Seventeen," said Loki quietly.

"Sorry?" said Louie looking confused.

"Apology accepted," he replied smartly. "What I mean is, seventeen. That's how old I was when I made my first kill." The blood drained from Louie's face. Loki winced. Maybe a better explanation was in order.

"It was war. It wasn't a safe time for any of us and anyway, the people consider it a norm for young men and women to enlist in the army at the age of sixteen. Being of royal birth, I and Thor were trained from the beginning to fight," Loki took in a deep breath, wondering why he'd started this conversation in the first place. "It was Thor's first battle and I wasn't letting him go alone. Rightfully speaking, he alone was ordered to go. I had the choice of staying back. Thor's - our - mother was almost beside herself when Odin let us both go together.

"It was a small unit, and we were ambushed on our way to joining the army on the battlefield. Someone had tipped off the enemy that both the crown princes were heading into battle together.

"It was quick. But ugly. It was a near perfect ambush. Had it not been for Frigga's protective enchantments, Thor and I would most certainly have been dead. A party of two dozen was cut down to just four lone soldiers. The remainder of the unit were just Thor, two others and I. It almost seemed worthless to arrive at the army camp." Loki shook his head, getting back to the point.

"The man I killed, the first one, he had Thor in a chokehold and a dagger at his neck. I did what I had to do. On the entire ride to the base camp, all I could think about were the lives I had taken. Those men, they may have been our enemy, but they were simply following orders. It was simply from a different leader." Loki looked and Louie, who was staring at him like she had just seen him clearly for the first time.

"Please, stop _staring_," Loki sighed. Louie ignored him.

"And you feel like- like a murderer, even though you know you did the right thing," she said quietly. Loki nodded shortly.

"You learn to get over it, eventually. You did it for an honourable reason."

"But you were just seventeen," said Louie softly.

"A prince is a prince at any age, Louise," he said, not unkindly, "I do not regret what I did that day."

"I don't expect you to," she replied, "but you were just a boy..." Loki rolled his eyes.

"Gods above, I was trying to say I _empathize_, Louie. The feeling of guilt - it passes. You don't have to worry for me. After all, it happened centuries ago."

Louie propped her chin in her hands, looking at him skeptically, but dropped the topic anyway, looking slightly better.

"Tell me something," she said instead.

"What?"

"How come you know how to speak and read English?" Loki's mouth quirked.

"Asgardians have been speaking this language for far longer than humans have, you know. You are such a young race. The language has evolved quite quickly in your hands. When we first taught it to Midgardians, it was called Latin."

"The origin of European languages," she said.

"Exactly. Writing it and reading it are things I learnt in my spare time. I've even studied other forms of language on Midgard, such as French, German and Russian. Let it never be said I did not do my research before coming to Earth." Louie snorted.

"It figures you'd be so smart. And here I am still struggling with tenth grade Spanish." Loki smiled mischievously.

"You become bored when you live long enough. A scholar like you and I would naturally crave new knowledge."

He slipped in the "you and I" on purpose and it had its desired effect. Louie looked quite pleased at the inclusion. Loki almost laughed. Sometimes it was too easy to play the mortals, like they were puppets on strings.

* * *

**Darcy POV**

"Someone's coming," hissed Pepper. Darcy put her hands down, hiding the obvious slit in the wire on her wrists. Her teeth hurt, but her effort was worth it. Darcy was sure that if she tugged hard in either direction, her hands would break free.

Light shone into the dark inside of the vehicle as a man entered. He moved forward into the light and Darcy noticed a rather vicious looking snake tattoo on his arm.

"Ladies," he said cordially, inclining with his head. Next to Darcy, Pepper inhaled sharply.

"Remember me?" he asked, advancing on them, and crouching down to gaze at Pepper.

"You're one of the idiots from the alleyway, months ago," she replied curtly. Darcy was surprised at how brisk she was being. Pepper was more of a peacekeeper but right now, she looked as if she'd like nothing better than to fly at this guy and rip him to shreds. Blondie grinned.

"Luke, please, Miss Potts," he said smirking.

"What do you want with us?"

"Well, let's see," murmured Luke, his eyes travelling over Pepper in a way that made Darcy want to cringe. "After that little freak exploded back there, that day, your bodyguard came looking for us. He hit one of my boys so hard he might not be able to walk again." Luke rubbed his hands together.

"I took great satisfaction in beating him into a bloody pulp back at the club. We're still waiting for an update, but we were given allowance to kill him. I'm sure my boys handled that well." Pepper let out a choked sob.

Darcy shifted, so that she was facing both Luke and Pepper. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the door hanging open. Nobody seemed to be outside. As Luke spoke, the wheels in Darcy's head turned.

It made no sense that Tony hadn't found them yet, if all these idiots were just a bunch of alleyway goons. She remembered how the Pepper said the comms hadn't worked in the restaurant. That only meant one thing.

Something was blocking their signal to Tony.

Darcy knew Tony well, after living with him now for months. If she was right (and she was damn sure she was) Tony would be scanning the country over and over and over until she and Pepper appeared on his computer screens.

Darcy took back her previous statement. In her head, she was beginning to formulate a rather watery, insane idea.

"What do you want with us?" Pepper asked once more, her voice louder and angrier.

Yes, good, Pepper, keep him talking and occupied, thought Darcy.

She sat back and tried to think like Tony. Tony had been hesitant about this night out from the beginning. What did that mean? What would Tony have done if he was responsible for the safety of them all?

Well. If Tony was watching over them, he would have done it in the sneakiest way possible because Pepper would blow her top if she found him putting a bug on any of them. Darcy bit her lip. Her plan was crazy. It wasn't even a plan. It was half a plan. A quarter. One of them was gonna die. But it might just be the bravest thing she'd ever done.

Some small, childish part of her thought of, for once, being the hero in her story. The more rational part was thinking along the lines of _Darcy, you stupid little crackhead, you're going to kill yourself_. She tuned back into what Luke was saying.

"...mutant," he grinned a nasty grin, "around him, nothing works. Not computers, not GPS, not phones. It's like being stuck in a hundred foot wide elevator."

"Was he the whackjob with octopus tentacles for legs?" asked Darcy. Luke nodded, mouth twisting in distaste. Darcy risked another quick glance outside.

"So, why have we stopped?" Luke stood, walking over to the door.

"Regrouping. We go on foot, here on out," came the curt reply.

"I don't think you should wait for your pals from back at the bar," advised Darcy sagely, "you left them back at the club in the wrong hands." Luke's eye twitched. He jumped off the truck and yelled at someone in the distance. There was a muffled yell in reply. Luke growled and swore under his breath, saying colourful things about tentacle man's mother.

They were going on foot. Darcy felt a thrill of hope.

"Hey, Pepper?" Darcy whispered under her breath, "did Tony give you a tracker of some sort? An additional thing in case we lost our comms?" Pepper shook her head. Darcy didn't let this dishearten her. Plan B then.

"I need a phone," she whispered. Pepper glanced at the doors. Luke was standing outside, checking his phone repeatedly and grumbling under his breath.

"I can get you a phone," she whispered, "but we won't have long after I get my hands on it."

"All I need is five minutes," replied Darcy. The older woman nodded.

"I need to pee," said Pepper loudly. If this hasn't been such a dangerous situation, Darcy would have laughed. Pepper Potts said the P word.

"What?" asked Luke, looking slightly taken aback.

"Nature calls," quipped Darcy. Luke looked into the distance again, sighed and looked back.

"Hold it in."

"But I need to go now," whined Pepper petulantly. Give the woman an A star for acting.

"Shut up," Luke snapped.

"Well, would you rather she go in this shiny truck that doesn't belong to you or out there?" asked Darcy. "Trust me. She can't wait long, she got pretty drunk last night." Pepper squirmed for effect.  
Luke seemed torn, clearly not wanting to spoil the truck's interior, but not sure if letting them out was the best thing to do.

More evidence of them working for a higher power, thought Darcy. Pepper whimpered, making a face. Luke groaned and beckoned.

"Okay, okay," said Luke. "Get out. Only you." He pulled out a small handgun and pointed it at Darcy.

"You stay. I've got no problem shootin' you, considering how you're not the freak. And don't even think of fucking running. We're not stupid, we're guarding the patrol." Darcy shrugged and leaned back, feeling the sweat run down her back. Luke cut off the binding on Pepper's wrists and led her away. Another man came and stood by the door, gun in hand.

Darcy's heart dropped when she saw the cloth bags in his hands, looking suspiciously appropriate for pulling over someone's head. Great. Of course they'll blindfolded their victims.

Time for plan C then.

She counted to a hundred, hoping Pepper had led Luke well away. Then, Darcy opened her mouth and began to scream.

* * *

**Tony** **POV**

Falling. Falling backwards. It was the same dream, every time. As he watched helplessly, Pepper fell back into a dark abyss, the bottom glowing like angry coals. The rationale in Tony always told him it was a dream, nothing more. But that didn't stop him from suffering as Pepper slipped away from him slowly, fear in her eyes, shocked at his broken promise.  
_You said you'd catch me._

He sat up with a lurch, gasping. Around him, it was bright, and he could hear the workings of the Tower above and below him. His machines whirred and like a heart monitor, every time the scanner went round and came back to square one, there was a resigned beep.

Tony groaned, burying his face in his palms. He had worked himself to the point of exhaustion that he fell asleep on his desk. The clock read that it was well past noon. Fear raised hackles on his neck. The thing about kidnappings was that the longer it took to find someone, the higher the chances of them being dead.

"Tony?"

Tony turned, blinking rapidly. His hands automatically reached for his equipment and he fiddled with a few buttons and screens. Louie moved forward, arms crossed.

She looked tired, wan - Tony was sure she hadn't taken Bruce's orders and rested. Loki moved in behind her, his eyes sweeping the room before moving off to observe the things in his lab. Tony knew Loki would never admit it, but the god always seemed interested in his knick knacks. He also noticed that even though they were at opposite ends of the room, Loki kept watch on Louie very carefully, as if she were a tiger in a cage – something not to be taken lightly or to turn your back on. When Louie moved forward, Loki moved too, but gave her a wide berth. If she shifted to her left, he accommodated by shifting to the left as well.

"Any luck?" she asked quietly, moving in to take a seat beside him. He shook his head and typed away at some nonsensical figures, because he had to keep up the persona of A Very Busy Man. Over his dead body was he letting the kid know that the great Tony Stark had been drooling on his desktop just a minute ago.

The flat beeping of the scanner was the only sound in the room for a moment. Tony hated silences. They made it seem like someone had just died and people were just grieving all around.

"What does that do, really?" Louie asked, indicating the scanner. "I mean the technicality of it. I know it's a scanner."

Thankful for something to talk about, Tony grabbed the opportunity and launched into a full blown lecture about the science behind his mastery. It was genius, actually, or he had thought so up until it had all gone wrong. The hem of Pepper 's dress had a little wire attached to it, something he'd tucked into her collar at the very last moment. A combination of sheer luck and Happy taking precautions to keep sly hands away had resulted in a near perfect tracker.

Was it creepy and stalker-like? Yes. Did he regret it? Not one bit. His security detail always had these trackers on, and the minute one of the guards had died, he was notified and _thankful_ for the extra precaution he had taken. But then, Pepper had disappeared off the screens and Tony was left with a tsunami of fear threatening to drown him.

"This isn't how it works in the movies," mumbled Louie, almost to herself.

"It never is, sweetheart."

"I thought they'd have contacted us by now, you know?" she sighed and put on a terrible impression of a deep voice. "We demand no less than five million. You have one hour."

"That was horrible," said Tony almost laughing. Louie grinned sheepishly and winked.

"Made you smile, didn't I?" They both looked away, stifling giggles. It was the worst possible moment to laugh but Tony felt glad that it happened. He reached over and brushed his knuckles against Louie's cheek, a silent gesture of thanks.

"I knew I liked you." Louie smirked.

"I always knew I was your favourite child."

"Don't push your luck, kid." Loki coughed discreetly somewhere towards the left of the room. Tony grinned again. Louie gestured to the screen again.

"How long are you planning to keep this up?"

"It'll be running day and night until we find them," Tony replied. "Clint and Natasha went back to the club a while back. They're trying to trace these people on foot. I'm staying here in case they do show up." He waved at another screen on which two yellow dots were slowly making their way down a busy street.

"So, there's nothing left to do but wait."

* * *

**Pepper** **POV**

Pepper had only just gotten close enough to swipe Luke's phone when Darcy's screams echoed through the air. More yells filled the barren land. With nothing else to do, Pepper stumbled sideways, into Luke. Luke staggered and the both went crashing onto the ground.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she cried, making no effort to get up off the man. She made a show of patting down Luke and brushing dust off his shoulder. The phone was in the pocket of his jeans, and Pepper leaned heavily on her arm and dug her elbow into Luke's stomach.

"Oh! Oops," she smiled sweetly. The phone fell with a thud to the ground. Deftly she picked it up, tucking it into her dress.

It would have gone unnoticed if it hadn't just started ringing at that very moment.

Pepper froze. Luke froze. Then his eyes zoned in on her, realisation dawning on his face.

"You little bitch!" He wrenched the phone from Pepper and backhanded her. With a cry, Pepper stumbled back, her head spinning. Her chest hurt, her dress was ripped and she could feel a bruise forming on her jaw.

"Shit," Luke swore. He pulled her to her feet and dragged her back to the van. The screams were louder now.

"What the fuck is going on?" yelled Luke, his face red with anger. The screams cut off at once. Pepper stumbled along miserably, half scared to find out what Darcy had got herself into.

It was worse than she imagined.

Darcy lay at the edge of the truck, breathing shallowly. Her arm dripped with blood and she was mumbling things incoherently. The moment she spotted Pepper she began to scream once more.

"I said, shut, UP!" roared a man, cocking his gun. Darcy sobbed, reaching for Pepper. Pepper hurried to her side, tears filling her eyes.

"Oh Darcy, what have you done?"

Darcy let her head rest on Pepper's shoulder. She had been shot in the arm, a mere graze of a bullet, but the blood was flowing freely enough to make Pepper well and truly scared.

"Can we kill her?" a asked a man with distaste. Luke looked like he badly wanted to say yes.

"Let's just get going shall we? We'll let the boss decide." Darcy pressed her forehead against Pepper's shoulder, hard. At first, Pepper thought she was doing it out of fear but she realized Darcy wasn't stopping as she calmed down. The younger woman was still butting her head against Pepper and it hurt, stabbing painfully into her collarbone. Suddenly, it was as clear as day to Pepper. There was still hope.

* * *

**Louie POV**

When I woke up it was dark in my room. The sun shone behind closed curtains and the only sound in the room was quiet breathing. The clock showed it was three in the afternoon. Loki was sitting in my chair, breathing so evenly he had to be meditating. He had this intense look of concentration on his face that probably spelled trouble in other circumstances.

I wondered constantly about Loki's life. I understood that a combination of a teenage temper tantrum and some _serious_ daddy issues had driven him to do the things he did, but I wanted to know more. About his childhood. About his brother. I was fairly sure that between the two of them, Loki was the creative mastermind behind pranks in their days as children.

This was the god of Mischief. When did that change to him becoming just the god of Lies? Mischief wasn't always deceit and lies. Mischief was different. Mischief could be _fun_. Loki opened his eyes and narrowed them at me.

"Can I help you?" In reply, I smiled sleepily. He looked unnerved at that.

"I may have an idea on how to track your friends," he said, buttoning his shirt tightly to the top. If it made him uncomfortable he didn't let on - he seemed well adjusted to wearing clothes that made him look all princely and regal.

"Do share," I said, firmly beating down thoughts of unbuttoning that button and maybe a few more.

"A simple tracking spell should do. It's pure magic, not technology so maybe it can get past these barriers and reach the women."

"But a search of that magnitude," I sat up, "it would be exhausting to search the entire state. Not even you and I combined would be able to cover the area even once, without taking at least a couple of weeks." Loki nodded, agreeing.

"Therein lays the problem."

We both went quiet for a moment, trying to figure out a way to scan the entire globe in a matter of days. A thought occurred to me, something that had been nagging me in the back of my mind for a while.

"Why do you want to help?" Loki leaned back, poker face in place.

"It would be good to have one over the Avengers. It could lead to favors in the future." I raised my eyebrow.

"It has nothing to do with, say, having a secret fondness for us mere mortals?" Loki threw me a Look. I grinned and thumped the bed.

"Come rest."

"No, thank you."

"Come on, you're exhausted, I can tell."

"Oh, you can, can you?" He looked amused now, like I was some sort of interesting show puppy.

"Yes I can. Now get over here." A shadow of something flickered over his eyes when he realised I wasn't bluffing. Was it distaste? Surprise? I never really got to find out because Tony's voice broke over the intercom.

_"Guys, we have a sighting."_

I shot out of bed and hurried down the hallway, Loki following closely behind me. Tony stood at his computer, arms folded.

"It was just for a few seconds but it was there. We have a lead now." Tony looked more alive than he had in the past eighteen hours.

Loki sidled closer, murmuring into my ear, "If we get there, we might be able to track them."

"Tony," I said nodding to show Loki my assent, "Loki has an idea." I explained how we could probably track Darcy and Pepper using magic, that it may work better than Tony's scanners. Although Tony didn't seem to like the sound of _that_, he agreed it would be a pretty good idea.

"Jarvis, get the plane ready in five," he said, all business, "you two and Thor, suit up."

Suiting up just involved putting on something I could be comfortable in, so I went for the same casual look I'd gone with when I was with Clint.

Thor and Loki both wore their Asgardian armour and looked highly impressive. When they were decked out in jeans and shirts, you kind of tend to forget they were both six-foot-something gods with unfathomable power. Not that Loki had unfathomable power anymore, something he had no qualms about telling each and every one of us as often as he could. His powers were so weak now that even I could overthrow him. His lessons with me exhausted his small reserve of power faster than ever.

Today's tracking spell would be conducted by Loki, but he'd use my power as a vessel for his mind to control. That way, neither would he tire himself out nor would I waste time trying to learn a brand new spell.

Steve and Bruce stayed back at the tower, both manning the computers and communication and the sick bay for when we returned.

A few minutes before we left, Steve pulled me aside, glancing at Loki.

"You've never been this far out with him. Do you think it's a good idea to give him free reign out there?"

"Steve," I gave him a look. "His powers are sealed and there's a tracker on his ankle. I think we'll be fine." Steve still looked doubtful.

"I can handle it, okay," I assured him. "Don't worry."

Ten minutes later, we were flying. The kidnappers hadn't gone far, in terms of aircraft time. Fifteen minutes or so in the air and Tony made a stealthy descent.

Loki was sitting opposite me with Thor on his left who was making small talk with him. Loki didn't seen as annoyed with Thor as he used to be. He definitely put up with his ramblings more, paying more attention to the news Thor brought from Asgard.

Thor was in the middle of cheerfully explaining in gruesome detail how he'd decapitated some Asgardian monster when Tony brought the plan to a standstill. Jarvis took over and Tony came out of the cockpit, suit at the ready.

The plane had landed on a barren, grassy area on one side of a tarmac road. On the other side of the road was an area of land that was fenced off. Barbed wire ran along the top of the fence, which was at least twenty feet high. Inside the fence, the land had run wild. Trees grew tall and densely packed together, and grass and weeds were overflowing from the little forest.

Tony fired up the suit and flew further down the road and then off onto the grassy shrubs. We hurried to catch up.

"This is where I last got a signal," said Tony, "after that, it disappeared again." I looked around. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"Tony?" asked Thor. He was even further ahead than any of us. He waved to us from the road. Thor pointed at a splash of something dark on the ground.

"Is that what I fear it is?" I crouched on the tarmac, examining the splotch of red brown splatter.

"That's blood alright," I muttered grimly. Tony picked up a sample and inserted it into a slot in the suit.

"It's Darcy's blood," said Tony.

Shit. Anger coursed through me. These people had hurt Darcy. Sweet, funny Darcy who knew her way around an iPhone better than anyone else in the Tower, who hadn't done anything worse than taser a Norse god. Thor looked beside himself.

"I will find them, and crush them to _dust_," he vowed.

"Yes, well, that would be a little difficult considering how we can't find them at all," said Loki a little acidly.

"The spell," I asked. "Would that work?" Loki shook his head in frustration.

"Look at where we are Louie. We seem to be the only beings for miles all around. It would be as foolish as trying to comb an entire country."

"I don't think we'll have to, guys," said Tony. He flipped open a compartment in the sleeve of the Mark- 42 and showed us his scanner again.

This time, a red dot shone brightly and steadily, unmoving and apparently from beyond the fenced off wilderness.

* * *

**A/N:** Ooooh, things are getting heated up. Whatever will happen next?

Ugh, I don't believe action scenes are truly my thing xD Well, I left a couple of references in this chapter, to my favourite books and movies, and I believe I have done so throughout the story so I'd just like to say, if you recognise the phrase, it's probably not mine: I'm just adding fandom references into all my homework.

Remember, Reviews Maketh Writer.

And Writer Maketh Plot Twists.

**25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT**

Until next time,

Much love,

xo

PS: Louie _meant_ for the explanation of the scanner to be a distraction for Tony to jump at.


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes: **Hey there :D You know, I might just have to change the genre from humor to drama :P

Replies to reviews down below.

**HyperFangirl:** Hey, you, thanks so much for leaving a review AND IT WAS THE 50TH ONE SO YAAAAYYYYYY! I'm so chuffed that we passed the silver milestone and thanks so much for your lovely comments about the story. I'm so glad you like it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Queen Martha Pond:** Darcy rocks, dude. She's so underrated and I decided to change that. Thanks for the review and I hope you like this chapter too :D

**Guest:** Thank you Guest :3 I will try my best to do so. I hope you enjoy this chapter :D

Now, before I move on, I have to say, we passed the 50 reviews mark! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! To commemorate the occasion I decided not to be a useless hypocrite and to edit ALL my previous chapters. If you go back and read them, you will notice I have added a **BIG GRAMMAR EDIT** note to all of them, and I assure you, except for a single sentence that is ALL I changed. The story is still exactly the same as you read it. I'm sure the grammar will be less atrocious, the punctuation better and the capital letters en pointe though.

So once again, thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favourites. I appreciate them all greatly. Now that that cheese is over, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

**Darcy POV**

Her arm felt heavy, and hurt every time it was jostled (which was always) and she felt like her legs were going to give out under her.

All in all, Darcy thought hazily, it was a pretty shitty plan.

Note to self: never _attempt to wrestle a man who is taller than you_.

Darcy didn't mean to start making a scene. Honestly, when had she become that impulsive? She really felt like a bit of an idiot. Her plan just jumped all over the place like a crazy, wound up jack-in-the-box running on three bottles of coca cola and a bucket of gummy bears.

First, she had wanted Pepper's tracker. She was almost absolutely positive that Tony had given her one and so was slightly let down when it turned out Pepper had no idea about any sort of tracker being on her person. Already, Darcy's stupid plan was going to the dogs, although for the life of her, she couldn't help feeling that she _hadn't_ overestimated Tony's sneakiness.

Not letting it get her down too much, she moved on to the next best option: a phone call.

Luke's phone seemed perfect - it was a model she used to own so she was pretty sure if she got her hands on it, she could rig it to call Jane and keep redialling until somebody picked up. If she got her hands on it, she could do this and then leave the phone in the truck and nobody would know. Hell, she could even type out an SOS message and delete it after; with a phone, the options were endless. Then, if this tentacle dude was going to be accompanying her and Pepper to wherever the hell these idiots were taking them, the phone would be well away from his disruption and the phone call would most definitely go through.

That was just Part A of her incredibly bland plan. Part B involved leaving clues. Darcy watched enough TV to know how to leave a few hints on the road for the others to find. A scuff of the shoe here, an earring there, a strand of hair under a pebble - the possibilities were endless.

But, the minute Darcy saw the cloth sacks for their heads she knew her plan was shot through. Hell, if she couldn't see how could she leave clues discreetly?

Think, you idiot, she thought angrily to herself, you work with geniuses. _Something_ must have rubbed off on you.

Think.

Fuck, she wished Jane were here. Jane would know what to do. Of course if Jane were here, Thor would probably barrel through the entire country with Myuh-myuh until they were found.

Dammit she wasn't cut out for this! She was an intern. An intern, for goodness sake! This kind of thing was what Jane did, or Nat, or heck, even Louie. Not her.

She thought of Louie, and remembered what Luke had said about them "not catching the freak". A mistake had been made and the wrong girl had been taken.

Louie was still in danger then, thought Darcy and she swallowed. She had to warn the Avengers. Fast.

A flash of silver on her guard's waist was all she needed for another idea to spring to mind.

She began to scream.

It wasn't at the top of her lungs - just enough to make her guard look up in annoyance and jump onto the truck.

"Shut up," he said roughly, shaking her. Darcy waited until he was close enough and went for the dagger on his belt. She was too slow though, and the man blocked her hand and sent her spinning away.

Then she caused a scene.

She threw a tantrum like she had never done before, hollering at the top of her lungs, shrieking and wailing and she could hear others yelling at her to shut the hell up or so help them, until there was a soft bang and her arm felt like it was on fire. Still, she kept screaming, on and on, eyes doing a crazy dance and never really focusing on any one man.

She risked a glance downwards. Several guards were gathered and one of them had his gun out, silencer and all. Darcy's head swam at the sight of the blood on her arm. She had been shot.

She could see Luke dragging Pepper along and when they got close enough, Darcy realised that Part A had failed miserably. She began to scream again, but now it was almost second nature. Her brain was still working, even though everything was a little cloudy and she was having a major out-of-body experience. She barely heard a goon tell her to shut up, but she did.

As Pepper rushed closer Darcy could see her dress was torn and her jaw was turning purple. Something glinted on her collar which was flapping open now.

Darcy, even through her red cloud of pain, understood immediately that Tony Stark was one sneaky son of a gun. She had been right, then.

She barely had time to let Pepper know, when she was pulled up.

"No," she said thickly, and clutched Pepper's collar. She wasn't ready to be tied up again, thanks very much.  
Pepper held her tight, but after a small tussle, Darcy was pried away and her hands brought in front of her roughly. She yelped in pain.

As her wrists were retied, she held the little tracker tightly clutched in her fist. Blood dripped steadily from her forearm, which they didn't bother to even bind. Damn, if she didn't die now, she was going to, of blood loss and infection.

Might as well make use of it, she thought, as the outside world disappeared into a black bag.  
In a way she was glad for the cloth sack. It stopped anyone from seeing the manic half smile on her face.

The next bit was going to be painful, but it had to be done.

Before she had time to think though, something wrapped around her waist and she was hoisted off the ground. She was dropped back seconds later but it didn't feel like she was on tarmac any more.

The ground felt springy and cold. A garden then? She pondered her predicament for a moment. Something cold and hard prodded her in the back and she stumbled forward.

Once they were walking once more, a quiet chatter began among the men and Darcy began to leave her clues. She dug her heels into the ground and shuffled slightly and when she was pushed forward, she gouged out a bit of the land with her shoe. It broke her hear to do that: those shoes had cost her a fortune. She was so going to bill Tony for this.

The air got cooler as they walked on and once or twice Darcy stumbled over tree roots, partly because she was exhausted, partly because she was feigning it and partly because it wasn't very easy to navigate your way around clumps of this and that when all you could see was the inside of a cloth sack. It wasn't like the goon gripping her good arm and guiding her was nice enough to point out obstacles in her way.

The second time it happened, she fell to her knees and her arm actually went into a hole of some sort, dug out by something.

Praying to God it was a rabbit hole, she unclasped her hand, getting up and leaving the tracker safe and hopefully out of sight inside it.

She gently wiped blood off her arm and let it drip from her fingertips. She brushed it against trees and the branches that hit her in the face (thanks Mr Guide, you are _so_ helpful). By the time they reached hard cement floor again, Darcy felt faint. She was losing far too much blood, she knew and her kidnappers didn't value her enough to save her.

Maybe it was the last thought that spurred her anger and disgust. She was kind of fed up being the intern that nobody really gave a shit about.

If she ever made it out of this alive, she vowed, she would get Steve to teach her to fight.

She was firmly gripped by the arms again and this time ushered forwards faster. They were setting a brisk pace to wherever they were going. There was a faint whirring noise echoing through the halls that sounded oddly familiar to Darcy, although she couldn't quite place it.

They walked on for a while, taking sharp lefts and rights. Okay, so they were definitely inside some sort of building.

She was manhandled into a chair, the sack whipped off her head and her wrists untied. She winced as she was jostled for the bazillionth time. Darcy threw the man who cut her bonds a deeply disgusted look, conveying as much contempt as she could. To her left, Pepper was sitting in an identical chair.

The door was behind them, with a couple of computer screens on her left. The place wasn't excessively neat but it smelled of some sort of strong chemical. She exchanged a glance with Pepper. A few minutes passed in silence, which Darcy spent trying to wriggle her way to freedom. Then, a light flickered on above their heads and the whirring noise increased by a miniscule percentage.

A generator, Darcy realised, that's what it was. It made her think of long nights when she had only a single cup of coffee to keep her awake and Jane would barely shut up for half a second. She missed Jane so much right now.

The door swung open and hit the wall with a crash. Darcy jumped and used all of her willpower not to turn around and look at their captor.

A thin, impeccably dressed man entered her line of vision. His grey hair was oily and slicked back and on his nose were a pair of thick glasses. He steepled his hands together in front of him and grinned.

"So this is them, yes?"

"Yep," came Luke's voice behind her. Darcy tried to turn and felt an intense wave of vertigo. Okay, so no turning or moving of any kind. The man in front of them made a mock bow.

"Levine Quincy," he said with a smirk. "You may have heard of me."

"No," said Pepper, looking utterly unimpressed. Darcy mentally applauded her for being a complete _boss_.

"No?" Levine Quincy looked displeased. "You mean to say your little demigod friend didn't mention me at all?"

"You're one of Loki's friends?" Darcy wrinkled her nose in distaste, although a few things were starting to add up, including why they'd taken her.

"Friends... would be pushing it. We were merely business partners."

"What kind of business?" asked Pepper suspiciously.

"My dear lady," he said shaking his head, "did you really think a complete idiot like him would have been able to gather all that manpower on his own last year? Nonsense. The speeches he was making put people off completely. It was I who sent him people to be used, I who supplied him with the labour for his work."

"So, you're in the human trafficking business," said Darcy, her dislike for this man steadily increasing.

"Let's not call it that," he said sweetly. He pulled up his own chair, near the computer screens and sat.

"I have a bone to pick with your dear friend Loki. You see," he said, examining his nails, "he promised me payment. And I am yet to receive it. The outcome of his petty little fit never mattered to me. What _did_ matter was my money, which I never got. You can imagine how _angry_ I was when I realised my labour force was dead and I had no payment."

Darcy could imagine it, yes. This guy looked like he could throw a helluva tantrum if he wanted to. Something about his oily slick persona didn't cut it with Darcy. It seemed to her that if a match was struck, he would go up in flames, breath fire and burn everything in his path mindlessly.

"So there I was," Quincy continued, "angry and near bankruptcy. Now, a good year later, I have built up my sodden reputation and you can _imagine_ my delight when little birdies tell me they see a certain demigod going _jogging_ with the Avengers in the morning." He laughed shortly.

"Well, personally, I think it's your fault for striking a deal with the god of Lies," pointed out Darcy.

"Be quiet," he snapped, his eyes suddenly flashing. Darcy fell silent in surprise. Quincy continued in a softer voice. "I do not like to be interrupted. It's story time. You children must listen."

Pepper scoffed and Darcy gave him a grin.

"Yeah, sorry, that's just not how we work." Quincy gritted his teeth.

"Perhaps we need a supervisor in the room. Slasher!" he snapped. "Get in here."

There was a low, animalistic growl and the hairs on the back of Darcy's neck went up. That wasn't human...was it?

The metallic stench of coppery blood filled Darcy's nostrils and a hulking great figure advanced on them. He was huge - bulging muscles and a thick neck, cords popping as he growled menacingly. His hands weren't quite hands, Darcy realised with horror. They curved into dangerous looking claws.

"This is Slasher," said Quincy, smiling, "he comes and goes. Such a free spirit, he is. I was lucky enough to hire him for this operation. It saved me so much time tracking you women down to the club. All I had to do was give him one of your scents and in five minutes he found you."

Darcy swallowed. Those claws looked very, very sharp. So did his teeth. She glanced at Pepper who looked equally terrified.

"Now that I have some nice peace and quiet, perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement. I had initially meant to get the other girl, you know. Apparently not everyone is as clever at identifying people as Slasher is. They will be punished accordingly. Slasher, I told you, you should have joined the extraction team. You wouldn't even be here if you'd done that. I'd have let you go on your merry way early," said Quincy irritably.

"And I told _you_ a million times," said Slasher, his voice rough and cold, "that I don't do extraction. You've got only fifteen minutes left with me, bub. After that, I'm gone."

"As I was saying," said Quincy, ignoring Slasher, "I have a bone to pick with Loki. At first, it was just getting my money back. Then, I heard that someone out there put quite the price on his head. So much more than that lying piece of shit could ever offer to me."

"So... what exactly is your plan now?" asked Darcy skeptically. "Because–" Slasher bared his teeth and she fell silent.

"Why, my dear," Quincy spread his arms, "you are the bait. And the Avengers have swallowed it, hook, line and sinker."

Darcy swallowed. This day could not possible get any worse. But then, of course Quincy snapped his fingers and pointed at her.

"This one," he said, "is unnecessary. I had thought the mutant girl would be a good catch for my collection but her, I want _her_ out of the way immediately."

Well, Darcy always had a big mouth. Slasher dragged her to her feet and she would have protested had she not been swaying on the spot. She gave one last, helpless glance at Pepper who had tears streaming down her face and headed out of the door.

Two men stood outside and Slasher shoved her into them.

"Sort it out," he said to the shorter of the two. The man nodded and Yessired before taking hold of her wounded arm and frogmarching her away. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Slasher watching them as they turned the corner, an inscrutable look on his face.

Darcy bit her lip.

"Where are you taking me?" she demanded. All she got in reply was silence.

She tried to struggle free but her attempt must have been pretty pathetic because the taller of the two men just rolled his eyes at her.

"Don't bother," he said loftily. So Darcy just resorted to using every insult she could come up with in multiple creative ways and firing them at top speed at the two goons.

She kept up the steady stream of insults even as they marched straight into the sunlight and ran into two more guards on the outer perimeter.

"Where are you two goin'?" asked a perimeter guard, raising an eyebrow.

"Boss said she's not needed anymore," said one of Darcy's Neanderthals. The perimeter guard nodded an assent and let them through, giving them a few parting words.

"Use the clearing up ahead; you're still well in the words so nobody will hear you." Darcy gulped. How the hell was she gonna get out of this one?

The clearing that the perimeter guard was talking about was up ahead. Already, two figures stood there, waiting. Once again she made a feeble attempt to break free.

"Will you stop?" snapped the taller one, "you're only making you arm bleed even more."

"That's the least of my problems right now, don't you think?" Darcy shot back, "considering how I'll be dead soon."

The taller man rolled his eyes once more and then, so quickly that Darcy almost missed it, his eyes flashed an emerald green. On her left, the shorter man started humming a few bars of an eighties classic.

It was then that Darcy looked up at the clearing, where she could now see the two figures standing there clearly. A grin split her face and she surged forward. Her "guards" let her go, because she stumbled straight into Thor's big, bear armed hug.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki was hot and it irked him. He was a frost giant, not a desert rat and his throat was so dry he would kill for a drink of water. They all stood at the edge of the fence, arms crossed and scrutinizing the twenty foot, spiked abomination of nature. The Man of Iron scanned it with his suit and Loki bet that if they could see him, he'd be shaking his head.

"Well, it's an electric fence," said Tony dryly.

"Of course it is," muttered Louie.

"I could fly us over it, Lady Louie," offered Thor and Loki had to fight down a possessive glare.

"Look, now that we know which way to go, let's try and use some magic here," said Tony. Loki nodded his agreement.

"We can check for traps and other patrols then."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Louie asked him skeptically, "we haven't really tried this before."

"Tell me again why this will work?" asked Tony.

Louie pulled up her sleeves and placed her hands, palms down in Loki's. Thor took it upon himself to explain.  
"You see, Tony," he rumbled, "young Louie is like a little Tesseract. She had much energy that my brother can borrow, or in this case, use like you use the tin man away from home."

"He's... possessing her?" Tony didn't sound very happy about that.

"Oh no, Tony," said Thor, sounding appropriately horrified, "not possessing. He uses Louie as a vessel of sorts."

"I still don't understand."

"It's something like an external battery to keep your heart in use, Tony," said Loki snidely. "You do not always need one, but when you do, you can be attached to the power source and function normally." He knew he'd struck a nerve because Tony didn't say anything more. Louie squeezed his hand tightly and frowned.

_Not_ _good_, her eyes said. He half shrugged apologetically, before he realised what he had done. He shook off the feeling of exasperation and focused on not killing them both.

"Keep calm," said Loki, closing his eyes and concentrating. "I have to maintain a physical connection until we are bonded enough in mind for me to let go."

It was no lie, what he'd said to Tony. It was exactly like being on life support. His magic swirled within the boundaries of his fingertips, unable to move out of the surface of his skin. It felt so stifling, so painful at times. The tattoo on his back tingled as he touched Louie's aura, tasting her power and energy. It changed and whirled, unlike anything he had ever felt before. Faintly, he could hear the workings of her mind, memories of a smiling woman and a comforting smell of tobacco wafting by.

He kept a hold for a moment or two, taking in a small amount of her energy, one sip at a time to make sure he didn't overdo it and end up paralyzed on the ground. When he was sure he'd had enough, he let go tentatively. A tiny spark formed at his fingertips. It had worked. He had, he assumed, around ten minutes of safe energy before he had to borrow again.

Tentatively, he opened his mind to his surroundings.

It was a sensory overload at first. For the first time in what felt like years, he could feel the nature around him, every cell, every miniscule creature and for a minute he was overwhelmed with the amount of information he was taking in. Then he pulled himself together and concentrated on finding a trail for them to follow.

Auras left a shadow behind and several had been in the area, a few making their way into the forest.

He had forgotten how much he missed this, this feeling of utter control, the ability to bend things to his will. For a moment he felt like he could blast his companions away and make his run into freedom. It was an appealing thought. So very appealing.

Instead he turned his heightened senses to the fence and beyond, checking every corner and crevice for traps and men on patrol. The grass, the branches, the trees, everything.

"It is safe," he decided. There was nothing there that gave him the impression that there were technological devices secreted away, at least on this side of the woods. Neither were there any men, although there were still several auras heading into the forest and by his estimation, it wasn't very long ago that they had set out. He told the others so.

"Excellent," said Tony briskly and before he could do anything else, Loki was grabbed around the waist by a cold, metal arm, flown over the fence and dumped unceremoniously on the grass. Louie made a more graceful landing when Thor carried her over, bridal style but in one arm, his other spinning Mjolnir and propelling him high in the air and safely onto the ground. Apparently Louie thought it was hilarious too because she had a silly little grin on her face and winked when Loki shot her a glance. Loki forced himself not to sulk. Why did everybody love the stupid hammer?

He pointed in the direction the fading auras had headed. "That way," he said.

Tony agreed. "That's where the tracker went."

"Stay on the ground and stay together," Loki commanded softly. "I shall give us an illusion of invisibility."

Only he felt the power draining from his fingertips, leaving him strained and in knots. Before he could say anything a warm hand slipped into his.

"You're the boss, man," said Louie, nodding encouragingly. Loki only felt his stomach tighten and even though he knew Louie was referencing some sort of Midgardian literature, he resorted to scoldingly declaring that he most certainly was not a man, although the boss part he could perhaps deal with.

Everything was brimming with life, with so much untouched potential that Loki was half dazed at how stupid mortal were, how weirdly ignorant to the power their land kept in the folds of the earth. If that potential was unlocked - why, it would be almost as much magic as Asgard had held in its infancy.

They kept walking, slowly and closely together, Tony and Thor hovering as they moved forward because, by _Odin_, they had no idea how to be stealthy. It should have occurred to Loki sooner; after all, they were both more of the 'run hollering into battle' types.

After a few minutes of silently walking, Louie's hand twitched in his own. She hunched over, her eyes level with a mark on a tree trunk.

"Is that -?" she asked, looking slightly ill. Loki passed a hand over the tree trunk, where a small, red swipe was shining slightly in the filtered light.

"Indeed," he said, "and the aura is familiar. I believe it is Darcy Lewis' blood." Loki had a sudden suspicion. He projected his senses, letting them bounce off trees and foliage, grinning when his theory was confirmed.

"Miss Lewis is very clever. She has left us a trail to follow."

"Ha-ha, he called a human clever," Tony sing-songed.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have about as much maturity as a six year old?" asked Loki conversationally.

"Several times, in fact. Anyway, you're right. We're still heading in the direction of the tracker," replied Tony, his iron sleeve open, their little yellow dot selves heading slowly towards the little red one.

They quickened their pace, moving faster towards their destination. Loki could feel something brimming on the horizon - a source of auras that had gathered like the crackling heat of a bonfire from further away.

"Stop! Here-," said Tony sharply. "The tracker is somewhere here." Louie looked around.

"She must have left it somewhere for us to find," she said.

"There," said Loki, pointing at a knotted tree root. The shadow of Darcy's aura was quite strong there.

"Hole," said Louie unnecessarily. Without letting go of his hand she crouched and with a slight grimace, stuck her hand inside it. She rummaged around for a few moments, muttering "That better not be what I think it is" and "Oh, this is _not_ a rabbit hole, _ew_" and a few seconds later, "_Aha_! Got it." She brought out a grime covered hand, holding a microchip.

"Darcy is indeed very wise," said Thor, "to have thought of hiding it so well and then to have used her own blood to leave a trail for us to follow. Indeed, this is a tale worthy of being sung in the years to come. I will personally see to it that it is written."

"That's nice, Thor," smiled Louie, "I'm sure Darcy would love to be, um, sung of for centuries to come."

Loki bit down a retort to where exactly Thor could put his songs and instead focused on getting them further into enemy ground. It would be difficult here on out as the tracker was now in their possession but he needn't have worried. Darcy's clues were very well spread and though they got fewer and farther in between, Loki was by that time used to spotting out her aura amongst others and so had no problem finding a trail.

"The auras are getting stronger," he said after a few minutes of walking, "we are nearing a place they pass through often. In fact, it couldn't have been more than half an hour since they passed along with Miss Lewis and Miss Potts."

"You're welcome," said Tony smartly, "for providing you with a high speed aircraft."

"Thank you, Tony," said Louie, her eyes warning Loki not to snap back. Loki made a mental note to put salt in Tony's coffee later on.

They entered a space of sorts were there were no trees or grass and the ground crunched under their feet. Loki held out a hand, signaling them to stop.

"Beyond here," he said, his eyes travelling over the cluster of trees surrounding them, "there are patrols. It would be difficult for me to get us all through, depending simply on an illusion of invisibility. I would advise Tony and Thor to stay here."

"Mm, nope, not taking your advice," said Tony. Loki could practically see his eyes narrowing. "My girl is in there and I'm going to get her back."

"And you'd rather barrel your way in, instead of safely sneaking in and, how do you mortals say it - bust them out?"

"I really love it when you try and get hip with the lingo, Real Power, I do, but that's the way the Avengers roll. We don't have anything to be afraid of."

"And yet you will put the lives of Darcy and Pepper in danger." Loki rounded on Thor, pointing at him. "Ask this one! Is it not the one who picks the battle ground who is at an advantage? They already have an advantage. Why cannot we _try_ to be quieter?"

"He is right," admitted Thor grudgingly.

Tony scoffed. "Louie? What do you think?"

Louie bit her lip and looked from Loki to Thor to Tony, and settled the billionaire with a wide eyed, apologetic gaze.

"Traitor," muttered Tony. "You and Thor both. Fine, okay. We'll do it your way. We'll bust them out quietly. Even though there's nothing wrong with blowing things up, right Thor?"

Thor nodded in agreement and Loki fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"Okay. Fifteen minutes, alright? Thor and I will stay here and have a nice little heart to heart about the two of you and you can go and do your magic thing. But only fifteen minutes. That's all I'm giving you." The metal man crossed his metal arms and sulked.

"Daww, Tony," said Louie, patting his metal arm. "It's okay to feel a little jelly. You can blow things up next time."

"Jelly? I'm not jelly. Who even invented this phrase? When did jelly become short for jealous? I don't understand kids these days."

"Try not to have a seizure over it," Louie said dryly. She squeezed Loki's fingers again comfortingly, "shall we?"

Loki wondered where exactly his feelings of repulsion had gone. He didn't like being touched, not by people he didn't know, not by mortals and yet here he was, holding this girl's hand like they were simply having a stroll through the gardens of Asgard. He didn't mind it, he realized. His brain immediately tried to repel the thought but ultimately he had to grudgingly accept that damn it all to Hel and back, he was fine with holding Louie's hand.

So, he inclined his head and replied, "We shall."

He ordered Thor and Tony to stay together and in the clearing. He then cast a complex little spell so that the two Avengers were invisible and begged - _begged_ them to be quiet and not make a scene, before he and Louie turned and headed towards the bonfire of auras.

"Be very quiet," he said, the illusion still keeping them invisible. Louie nodded. The woods thinned out and a concrete building appeared out of the distance. It had no windows to speak of, just barred air vents and a single door as far as Loki could see. It was a fairly big building - one floor but, by the looks of it, making up for height with length and width.

"It's an old army bunker, I think," muttered Louie.

"We must hurry," said Loki, "I do not know how many soldiers are in the area."

They quickened their pace, making their way swiftly and silently to the building. They were a hundred feet away, seventy, fifty, when suddenly Louie pulled him back with a quiet hiss. A guard strolled by in front of them; Loki would most certainly have run straight into him had he gone on without stopping.

_Thank you,_ he mouthed. They both stood stock still, hardly daring to breathe as the soldier paused, looked around, looked straight through them and walked on. They both let out sighs of relief.

A few more steps, and the door was open, and they were inside.

"Which way do we go?" asked Louie.

Loki pointed down the corridor. "They were taken down that way."

Loki was right about the structure of the place, he was pleased to find. The corridors showed a long, winding passage into the bowels of the building. Louie shifted closer to him as they walked past rows and rows of men on sentry duty. She seemed to hold her breath as they walked, her hand almost shaking in his.

They turned the corner where voices grew louder and Loki paused to listen. There was a closed door up ahead and one on its immediate right, where the door was slightly ajar. Loki took a step forward and then froze, skin tingling. Something was off about the people in that room.

There were mutants there, he realised, and more than one. The door opened and Loki swiftly backed around the corner and into the shadows of the wall, dragging Louie with him.

"Wha-" he clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Stay. Very. Still," he breathed. Louie's eyes widened and she nodded.

He peered around the wall slowly. A man was now leaning against the wall. He was the mutant, Loki guessed. There was a cloying, murderous tinge in the mutant's aura. He was enormous, like Thor, with ginger sideburns and claws for hands. As he stiffened and turned, his eyes slanted, a tawny yellow in colour.

_Mutant_, he mouthed at Louie. Louie raised an eyebrow.

_You can tell?_ He switched to communicating telepathically.

_Yes. They are quite different from ordinary humans. _

Louie nodded, showing that she understood. Immediately, the mutant let out a low growl.

"Who's there?" he called, his eyes narrowed. He sniffed, eyes narrowing. "Come out before I rip your goddamn throat out." He could _smell_ them? Well, then it was no use hiding.

_Follow my lead, _he said to Louie_, and let me do the talking. _He melted out of the shadows and stood at attention.

"Just us, sir," he gave himself a higher voice, sounding obnoxious to his own ears. Next to him, Louie, also cast over with an illusion, gave a brief nod. The mutant nodded back, relaxing.

Another man exited the room, dressed in a grey suit. He barely glanced at them, instead walking to the door on the opposite wall and flinging it open with a bang. If this mutant wasn't there, scaring the living daylights out of him, Loki would have laughed at the theatrics.

Then, he noticed the familiar aura waiting out of the newly opened door. He felt a rush of adrenaline. Darcy was in there.

A few minutes passed and Loki and Louie took up guard. Loki bit his lip in worry as the seconds ticked by. He didn't have long before he needed to regain some power from Louie. Already it was around three minutes since he last let her go.

The mutant was standing outside the door, frowning at them. Loki swallowed. If he didn't touch Louie soon, they would have no illusion.

Turn around, he willed the mutant, go on, turn. Nothing happened.

Six minutes, by his count. The mutant took a hesitant step forward, frowning at Louie. His claws were held at his sides, curled and ready to pounce.

"Who-," he started, almost curiously, warily, when there was a loud call from within the room.

"Slasher!"

The mutant - Slasher – let out a low growl of annoyance and disappeared into the room.

Loki let out a deep breath and reached for Louie's hand, the energy streaming into him.

"What was that about?" she asked, confused. Loki shrugged, eyes fixed warily on the door.

"All I know is that he can smell us. Being invisible wouldn't keep us safe around that mutant. However," he said, "Darcy is in there and Pepper too, I'd say."

"How do we get them out?" Louie asked. They edged forward, until they were just outside the door.

"...you are the bait. And the Avengers would have swallowed it, hook, line and sinker," a sickly oily voice was saying.

They knew, Loki realised. They knew the Avengers would come. Loki was suddenly extremely thankful that they had done this his way and hadn't just come running head on at the building. If this man was confident that the Avengers could find them without a tracker of any sorts (well, as far as _they_ knew, anyway) and was still boasting about it, then he had to have some extreme tricks up his sleeve.

The man was still talking.

"This one is unnecessary. I had thought the mutant girl would be a good catch for my collection but her, I want _her_ out of the way immediately."

Loki stiffened, stepping away as the coppery smell of Slasher filled his nose and Darcy was brought out.

Next to him, Louie might have whimpered. Darcy was deathly pale, her hair a wreck, her dress dirty and her arm covered in blood. She was swaying as she stood and they had to catch her as Slasher pushed her forward.

"Sort it out."

_Dispose of her_, his eyes seemed to say. Loki nodded and gripped Darcy by the elbow, leading her away. It repulsed him to turn his back on the mutant who had an utterly unpleasant vibe to him, dangerous and uninhibited. His neck crawled at the thought of those claws.

* * *

**A/N:** And there ya go :) I hope you enjoyed.

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's Note: **Uh, be warned, today's chapter is heavy stuff.

Replies to reviews up now :)

**LillianaStone:** Hey you! Thanks so much for the review! Well I'm glad I surprised you and it's great to hear I succeeded in writing Darcy well! This chapter is… interesting too, I guess. Hope you enjoy. (or don't kill me, whichever.)

**Queen Martha Pond:** YES! You're so right. I love how you always get those tiny details I try to put across! I'm glad you liked the chapter. I hope this one is up to par with the rest of the story. Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it :D

_Crystal12:_ Thanks so much for your kind words :D They made my day. Here you go, another update! I hope you enjoy!

**TheIronBat:** Well thanks to you I woke up to a LOVELY surprise this morning :D ELEVEN whole reviews! I can't believe you took the time to review each chapter individually, I'm so touched! And then reading every one made me happier and happier. I'm very glad I wasn't mistaken and that Hulk reference really did come from your story :3 and since you love Loki-Louie interactions… well… you're either gonna love this chapter or you're gonna come after me with a blunt instrument. You're totally right about the others slowly coming around to liking Loki a teeny bit but it's really slow and boy, Clint is gonna be the toughest nut to crack. WOOO THE HAIRCUT SCENE WAS SEXY! I giggled a lot writing that lol. I'm so glad you understand the mixup. The mixup, like the singing scene was one I cringed a little while writing, purely because of the realism I felt like I had to maintain. Crackfics aren't really what I'm aiming to write here. Okay I'm writing another novel here, I'm just gonna let you get to the chapter.

Dear Readers – Note that this chapter is a differently toned one and revolves around darker themes. You have been warned.

* * *

**Chapter 17**

**Loki POV**

Loki couldn't understand what went wrong. It was all fine up until Thor flew away. The illusions were in place, Darcy was safe and Thor took her back to stay at the ship. Tony, Loki and Louie were thinking up a new plan when he heard the shouts. Before he knew it, he could hear that animalistic growl once more and he tensed.

"He knows," he said.

"Shit," said Louie.

"Who?" asked Tony. As if to answer him, Slasher made a leap into their midst.

There was no use; with Slasher's sense of smell, he was going to find them. If they stood still, all they were going to be were sitting ducks. Loki broke the illusion and grabbed Louie's hand.

"Run!" he yelled. He projected a mental message to Tony and prayed it went through.

_We shall get Pepper . You're to keep the mutant away from us. Tell Thor we need him._

Tell Thor we need him. Now there was a line he never expected to hear coming out of his mouth ever again.

"What are we going to do?" cried Louie as they headed straight for the building.

"We will barrel through and fight," replied Loki, albeit a little resignedly. Louie snorted.

"What happened to being smart and safe and not marching in again?"

"That was before they knew we were here," he replied edgily.

Slasher had sounded the alarm and men were already aware of their approach. He gave Louie's hand one last squeeze, pulling in some magic that made his stomach ache and let go, summoning his dagger and slashing viciously at three men that ran at him. With a flick, Louie extended her staff, bending the earth to her will and sending people flying left and right.

There wasn't any time to dawdle, they had to get Pepper out immediately. Who knew what that man could do to her with a mutant like Slasher at hand? He used a little bit of his energy to hunt for Pepper. She was there, being dragged out to the back of the building with two others. Time was against him, but -

"Louise-," he roared, holding out his hand. Louie spun, slashing at the men around her and leapt for his forearm.

The magic sparked through him and his mind cleared. Focusing on where he wanted to go, he disappeared, pulling Louie into space and time with him.

They reappeared immediately in front of the party trying to escape through the back - a stupid idea that had them both hitting the ground and rolling away from gunfire. Loki staggered to his feet, catching his breath as they faced off the three figures in front of him.

"Loki," said the older man, standing with his hands behind his back. "So good of you to join us."  
Loki felt a thrum of recognition in his mind. He searched for a name to match the familiar face.

"Quincy," he said at last and the sound of the name brought back the memories. The oily voice, the equally greasy hair, the ferocious temper and the cold, detached air he had towards all his men. Loki did not have to be anything special to dislike this mortal. He exuded the aura of an untrustworthy being.

A second mutant was standing behind him. His upper body looked perfectly ordinary, but where his legs should be, he had instead eight tentacles. One of them was gripping Pepper tightly as she struggled. There was a bruise forming on her face and a few cuts as well. Loki felt uncharacteristically irritated. These humans were _his_ idiots. Nobody else had the right to harm them.

"So good of you to join us. I have unfinished business to discuss with you, to put it simply," said Quincy cocking his head. Something clicked in Loki's brain. Of course.

"I apologize," he said picking his words slowly, "for the delay in payment. It was unnecessary to go to this extent to meet me; a simple message would have sufficed." Quincy snorted.

"Oh, please. Like the World's Mightiest Heroes would have allowed me to pay a social visit. More importantly, like you would have stepped out from behind their backs. Besides," his eyes settled on Louie, "there were perks to this route of action."

"How did you find out?" asked Louie. Her voice was flat, strained, as it usually went when she was covering up her worry.

"Ah, I made a few friends who took a wrong turn down an alley," said Quincy. Louie hissed in anger.

"Just who are you?" she demanded. Quincy merely tilted his head at Loki, inviting him to explain.

"Mr Quincy was an acquaintance," he said, feeling bitter as he said it. With a good four feet in between him and Louie, he felt fear ebbing in and magic ebbing out of him. "He assisted me during my... episode in New York last year."

"I see." Loki winced at the emotionless tone Louie's voice took. It meant she cared. She cared far too much. Quincy bobbed his head at Louie in a gentlemanly manner.

"I knew you would come. You must be Loki's new apprentice." Louie stiffened.

"Yeah, you could say that," she said carefully.

"But you must also be an Avenger then. On behalf of them, I urge you to make a bargain. If you and Loki come in quietly, Miss Potts walks free." Louie swallowed, eyes wide.

"You see," said Quincy, "there is someone out there willing to pay a pretty price for Mr Laufeyson. I believe Thanos wishes to meet you again, Loki."

The wind left Loki's lungs in a big whoosh of air. No. No, no, no, this wasn't happening, this could not be _happening_.

"Your call," said Quincy to Louie, shrugging.

Louie set her mouth in a grim line. Loki knew what was going through her head. She was a stupid, noble mortal with ideals like Thor and the rest of them. But if she didn't agree, Pepper would die. If she didn't agree, all deals would be off and there would be no bargaining whatsoever.

"No dea-"

"Deal." he interrupted. He summoned the last dregs of magic within him and froze Louie in place, her mouth open in a surprised little 'o'.

"No!" cried Pepper, struggling, "No, what are you doing?!"

"Thank you, Loki. You have made this very easy for us." Loki smirked as the mutant with the tentacles grabbed Louie's arm. There was a sharp crack and a yell of pain. Loki sighed in relief. His borrowed power faded away from his fingertips, leaving nothing but a tingling shadow of a memory behind. His magic made a sound barrier of protection around Louie, keeping her safe from her attacker's grasp.

"You cannot touch her," he declared with a grin, "not for the next hour or so." He tilted his head in mock thought. The faint sound of thunder and bullets reached their ears. "I do not think you have that long."

Quincy snarled in anger, pulling out a gun and pointing it at Pepper's head.

"Very well, trickster," he snapped, "if that's how you want to play it-"

"Quincy," he interrupted, "I'm still here." His jaw physically ached as he added the next bit, true fear coursing through his veins, "You can take me in exchange for Miss Potts."

Pepper's jaw dropped and Loki would have slapped her for having so little faith in him if he hadn't been mentally kicking himself for being such a compulsive, senseless fool. He was going to risk his life for a mortal and not just any mortal, oh, no, it had to be a mortal who was once upon a time his _enemy_.

Then, Pepper was falling to the ground with a thud and the tentacled mutant was on him, a slimy, writhing protuberance wrapping around his waist and flinging him into a tree.

He got up, winded, the back of his head feeling exceptionally tender. He hadn't seen it coming. The continuous borrowing of Louie's power had weakened him, the chore had left him blind and far too slow to fight. Compared to his usual stamina, he now realised his movements were sluggish.

"And how exactly are you planning on calling to Thanos?" he asked thickly, stalling for time. Was he mistaken or was the sound of fighting getting closer?

"Oh, Mr Laufeyson," said Quincy sweetly, "we're not doing it. You are."

Tentacles wrapped his body tightly and he was dragged away. Pepper stared after them, her eyes screaming silently at him until they disappeared and he was deep into the woods. What was she telling him? Was she telling him he was insane? Because he was. He was crazy and by the gods, someone was going to pay for his lapse in cohesive thinking.

Once they were well into the woods, he was flung against a tree again. He groaned at the impact.

"I'm beginning to sense a pattern here," he winced.

"Don't play games with me, Laufeyson" snarled Quincy, his face utterly murderous now that Louie wasn't in the vicinity. "I've waited far too long for payment. You must send a message to Thanos at once."

Loki laughed hollowly.

"What makes you think I know how to reach the Mad Titan?" he asked. Quincy raised an eyebrow.

"The world has become a smaller place, Loki," he said gravely, "I hear stories about you and how you know more passages and paths between realms than any other living being around. You know. You're a liar and I don't believe you when you say you don't know."

"Even if I wanted to I couldn't. The Allfather has taken away my magic. You will get nothing from me, you stupid _mortal_," he spat derisively.

Quincy snapped his fingers and the mutant advanced on him, his fist swinging as hard as his other eight limbs. Loki dodged and parried but he was no match for the mutant when he was suddenly being attacked by octopus tentacles too. He struck out with his dagger but an inky black appendage caught him by the wrist and twisted it so hard something snapped. Loki yelled in pain.

Seven other tentacles wrapped so tightly around his body that he could barely breathe, let alone move.

"Don't lie to me, Loki," said Quincy softly. "You _will_ send my message or I'll get Dakota to break every bone in your body."

"If it kills me there will be no use, now, will it?" he snarled.

"True, the price on your head would drop," Quincy shrugged, "but it would still be far, far more than what you owe me."

"I will pay you double the price," Loki said automatically. Quincy had the audacity to laugh.

"You? The fallen prince? The shame of Asgard? Oh, that stupid boy who hacked into SHIELD had no idea what kind of information he stumbled into. I learnt so much about you by piggyback riding his little experimental excursion into their systems. It was a brilliant stroke of genius to put those links in that boy's path, if I do say so myself. You have nothing, Laufeyson. Once more, _don't lie to me_."

Loki felt a rage so great nothing else seemed to matter.

"You- you dare-?" The rest was drowned in a gurgle of pain as one of his fingers broke with a sharp snap.

"Send him a message, Loki," said Quincy, his voice deadly calm.

"I cannot," he said, his teeth gritted in pain, "I cannot-" Snap, went another finger.

"I do not lie," he panted. "Believe me, I can't do anything."

"Such lies," tutted Quincy, clearly enjoying himself. "You're the one that always paraded around pretending to be a god. How does this feel Loki? To be brought down by a single mortal?"

Snap, snap, snap, went the rest of his fingers and Loki groaned in pain, his legs giving away. The only thing holding him up now was the mutant.

He snapped his forearm next.

His mouth opened in a soundless gasp. He had never felt so helpless in his life. Never, not ever. Pain was coursing through him and although he struggled to break free he couldn't. How could this be? How?

"I'm not a very patient man, Loki," snapped Quincy a vein throbbing in his temple. Dakota dislocated his shoulder. His entire dominant arm was now useless and he felt mildly irritated at how stiff it would be in a few hours.

He was furious. He was a god, how dare these petty humans make a fool of him in this way? How _dare_ they? Loki spoke the only words that came to his mouth.

"Fuck you."

It felt strangely invigorating, using the petty words and he understood why Louie seemed to like swearing so much. It was almost worth the slap that came out of nowhere.

Quincy shook his hand with a grimace. "I really don't like getting my hands dirty. Last chance, Loki. You will send a message or Dakota will run you through with your own filthy dagger."

Loki had a sudden mental image of a Kursed doing the same thing and felt a shudder wracking his body.

"Three," said Quincy expectantly, eyes gleaming. Loki swallowed.

_Heimdall, if you're listening. I am sorry. For being so weak, I am sorry_. Every inch of his body repelled it but he attempted to cast the spell anyway.

For a moment it might have worked; he felt a stirring conscious on the other end of the mental spectrum but then the seal kicked in.

Loki _screamed_.

It hurt so much. The seal was working quickly, like a magnet, pulling his arms to his sides where they stuck to him firmly. He fell, his back arching into the air. Everything hurt so much. Everything was burning. There was a roaring in his ears and all he could think about was how sorry he was - he didn't mean to, he didn't, _he didn't_ and oh, gods, he was sorry, he'd never, ever again do this, never, please, just _stop_-

* * *

**Louie POV**

When I found Loki, I was going to murder him. Commit straight up, cold blooded murder.

"Louie," Pepper said faintly, struggling to her feet and approaching me. "Louie what did he _do_ to you?" Her voice sounded plugged and distant, like someone had clapped their hands over my ears. I couldn't reply. I couldn't even move.

Murder. I was going to murder that stupid idiot.

"Oh god, oh god, what do, we do, what, Louie, I don't know how to fix this, Christ, please just - I -," Pepper took in a deep breath.

"Okay," she said, "you're going to be okay."

_Are you sure about that?_ I wanted to ask, fear spiking my heart. Over Pepper's shoulder, I could see soldiers approaching. I screamed. I struggled. But Pepper couldn't hear me; she just made to touch my face before changing her mind and withdrawing. Then, shifting the cloth just barely, not jostling me in any way, she searched my jacket pocket for something.

"Found it," she said in relief. She pulled out my baton like it was a plastic vital in a game of Operation.

"God, thank you-," she pressed the top of my staff and a red light blinked. I watched in surprise; I didn't know I could do that with my staff. But I didn't have time to think about it. The goons were approaching, a full two dozen of them, guns cocked and Pepper still hadn't noticed.

Struggling inside a magically bound body is like putting a cast on your ankle and not being able to rotate it any more. It felt like a cast was on my entire body, and as hard as I tried to struggle inside it, I couldn't break through.

"Please, hurry up," whispered Pepper to no-one in particular.

Pepper, turn, I chanted, turn, before you die. But she didn't turn, not until a goon cocked his gun at her back and said, "Freeze!"

Pepper froze, her eyes the size of dinner plates. Two dozen guns moved around us in a circle. Pepper gripped my baton tightly, muttering something under her breath. A man cocked his gun, aiming it at me.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Focus, Louie, get out.

I could see the gunman exhale, his finger slowly pressing down on the trigger. Pepper let out a strangled moan.

Several things happened at once.

The cast on my body disappeared and I had a moment of _Hell, yes, freedom!_ before a scream ripped through the forest.

Loki.

There was a shout from behind us and I tackled Pepper to the ground. An arrow whizzed past and buried itself in the gunman's eye. He dropped his gun, flailing and fell backwards. More arrows whizzed past and gunfire opened out.

I turned back to look at my saviors and called out, "What the _hell_ took you so long?!" Natasha reloaded her gun and shot down three men.

"We got a little distracted on the way. Where's Loki?" I scrambled to my feet.

"Did you hear him?"

Natasha nodded, "It was kind of hard not to."

"I'm going after him," I said and took my staff from Pepper.

"What was that thing you did with it?" I asked her. She dusted herself of and backed against a tree, leaning heavily.

"Tony puts tracking devices in almost anything he gets his hands on," she said, her voice just above a whisper.

"And thank God for that," added Natasha, "do you know how big this place is? We would never have been able to find you on our own."

"Do you know what happens to the others?" I asked anxiously. I flexed my hand for good measure, stirring up a bit of a breeze. Natasha shrugged.

"We all ran into trouble. This Quincy guy, he has a lot of manpower."

"Duck!" called Clint, firing three arrows at us. We dove away just in time, although the top of my head seemed awfully warm for a second.

"That better not be fire," I said, patting my head frantically.

"By my count," said Clint casually, pulling a couple of his arrows out of two bodies with a nasty squelch, "I got eighteen. I win." Natasha scowled and made a rude gesture at him when another scream ripped through the air.

"_Loki."_ I leapt over a couple of groaning figures and sprinted for the woods.

"Louie!" shouted Natasha behind me. "Louie, wait!"

No, I couldn't wait. Something was happening to Loki. That's why his spell over me broke so suddenly.

"Almost there, Loki. I'm almost there," I panted. I could see figures moving up ahead. A thick, acrid, black smoke.

I felt energy thrum into my fingers before it sputtered and died.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking joking," I snapped, skidding to a halt and staring at my hand in disbelief.

"Really?" I hissed at my fingers "You're gonna do this now?" A hand touched my shoulder and I gasped, wheeling around. Natasha pressed a finger to her lips.

"Don't do that, Jesus!"

"What's going on?" I shook my head.

"I think I'm a little drained because Loki borrowed too much off me. I can't use my magic." We crept forward together, edging closer and closer to the thick smog.

"What is this stuff?" asked Natasha and I shrugged.

"Beats me."

Every fibre in my being was strung as taut as Clint's bow. I flexed my fingers again, and this time a tiny flame appeared. I breathed a sigh of relief when a cracked keening of pain broke through.

Someone swore.

I couldn't wait. I burst through the foliage and _blew,_ chasing the smoke away into thin wisps with a mighty gust of air. I cracked my staff hard onto the ground.

Rules of Jumping into Battle like a Maniac stated one must _always be aware of their surroundings_. I was now aware. And I kind of wished I wasn't.

Loki was on the ground, tremors wracking his body. The man in the suit was shaking his head but his eyes were locked on me, glinting with a dangerous hunger.

"Dakota," he said, "don't touch him again."

Dakota shot him a look and stepped back, nursing one stump of an appendage which was torn off, when he too, noticed me. His lips curled and he shot out a tentacle, trying to grab me.

"No, you fucking don't," I said sharply, snapping my fingers. My hand burst into flames and the tentacle stopped immediately, retracting warily.

"Put your hands where I can see them, Quincy," said Natasha from behind me. Quincy's eye twitched.

"I should have dealt with you sooner," he said looking at me in annoyance. He nodded to Loki.

"Your master isn't in any shape to be touched. He took Dakota's arm… leg… _thing_, straight off."

"What did you do to him?" I snarled. Loki's face was white and he was twitching and jerking. He let out another hoarse cry and blood dripped from his mouth. I swallowed down a sickening sensation in my throat.

"Move away from Loki" said Natasha. "Don't make me hurt you." Quincy didn't move. Instead a cruel smile graced his features.

"I said step aw- ohhf!" There was the thudding of feet, a snarl and a grunt of pain. I wheeled around and shot a fireball at Slasher who had just leapt at Natasha. The attack just glanced off him and he took Natasha's hand in his arm and twisted it so hard there was a resounding crack. Natasha yelled in pain.

"Stop that," I yelled at him. With a burst of energy a scoop of earth was in my hand which I flung at the mutant.

There was a hiss as a bullet whizzed past my ear.

I whipped around, aiming fireballs at Dakota. He deflected them, wincing in pain. Quincy was edging towards Loki once more who had stopped moving completely, a greedy look on his face.

Discs of hard rock went whizzing in his direction like mad frisbees and he backed away immediately, scowling at me. I raised a hand; one twitch of my finger and those frisbees would come right back but before I could do anything, my legs were swept out from under me.

The scent of blood filled my nostrils as Slasher pinned me to his chest, his meaty forearm threatening to choke me. His face was pressed against my cheek and he inhaled deeply.

"What the hell are you doing, you disgusting, perverse-," I grunted through gritted teeth. His claws appeared in front of my eyes and wiggled in a menacing manner.

"I knew it!" he rasped. "I knew I recognized that scent."

"What are you talking about? Let – me - go!" I jabbed my elbow into his gut but he didn't even seem to feel it.

Even Quincy was frowning at him, confused. I twisted and turned in Slasher's grip, pretty pathetically because it was unyielding. But the cavalry was coming – lightning cracked in the sky above and I could see two figures flying towards us.

"This isn't over, Laufeyson," spat Quincy. He nodded to his henchman, grabbed him by the wrist and disappeared into thin air.

Fuck, he was a mutant too? Slasher dropped me and I lost balance and fell to the ground. My hand lit up with fire and I launched myself at his leg, holding tight. Slasher didn't even flinch.

His eyes bore into me and he gave me an unpleasant grin, the smell of burning flesh filling the air.

"Just like your daddy," he smiled. "You're just like him."

I saw the boot coming so I had time to roll away. Slasher bounded over me and ran into the woods, dodging Iron Man's lasers and the swing of Mjolnir.

I lay there on the ground panting, suddenly too weak to stand.

My _father_?

I hadn't thought about my father in years. Mom never left me with the need to; it was us against the world. I hardly ever needed him and I _hated_ thinking about him. But - Slasher knew, or had known, my dad? That certainly didn't bode well for whoever he might be.

Disgust spurred inside me. Maybe that's why he left us. Maybe that's why he never called or wrote or sent me a damn birthday card. Maybe he was dead. I closed my eyes, my body aching so much it made everything numb.

Slasher had brought up flashbacks of faint moments I never wanted to think about. Ever. Try as I might though, it didn't stop the memory of strong arms lifting me into the air or a whiskery kiss and a nice, soothing smell of tobacco that never completely disappeared from my mind.

There was a sharp tap to my face and my eyes flew open.

"Are you okay?" asked Tony, his faceplate off. I nodded jerkily and sat up, groaning.

"Loki," said Thor, falling to his knees beside his brother. He tried to touch him and his arm jerked horribly like he had been shocked.

"Something happens if someone touches him," I said scrambling to Thor's side, Tony watching me go like I was Dummy on a particularly well-oiled day.

"He was yelling his head off too," Tony commented, "We could hear him from where Pepper and Clint were."

"He called to me," said Thor, "the fool, he knew what would happen if he used his magic, and he called to me with his mind." Thor's face was marred by lines of sorrow and anger.

God, Loki looked a fright. Except for breathing in short, harsh gasps, Loki was unmoving and waxy pale.

"This is the work of Odin's seal," said Thor. "We might have to simply wait this out."

"Wait it out, my ass," I said sharply, my throat aching in a way that said tears were about to follow. Loki heaved a small, dry sob. "I have magic. I could probably touch him without having my arm taken off."

Thor didn't look very sure but he glanced at his brother's face, at the blood dripping down from his mouth and nodded.

As a precaution I covered my fingers with a sheen of energy, summoned for protection and also to feed Loki and refill his drained stores.

Slowly, very slowly, I touched his face.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Everything hurt, it hurt, his eyes hurt and ached and they stared helplessly at Louie whose hands were coming closer and closer.

_No_, he tried to say, no_, don't touch me, you'll hurt too, _oh, it hurt so much, it hurt.

It was okay, she was mouthing, it was going to be fine.

_Lies_. Her first touch was impossibly painful. Odin's seals warred against the contact, punishing him for attempting what could not be done, punishing his _gall_ for trying.

Bit by bit though, his arm grew numb, quiet and his body didn't ache so and the pain faded away into a dull throb.

His throat felt thick ragged and he swallowed blood.

But his mind - his mind still echoed painfully with memories that hurt more, so much more. This, this was the ultimate punishment, Loki knew, this rush of memories that he had tried for so long to block but now he couldn't anymore. He couldn't. Odin was forcing him to see, for his worst nightmares to resurface.

Louie sucked in a breath like someone had punched her. Her mind was deep in his, a backward telepathic link between them, she couldn't, _shouldn't,_ be able to delve so far and yet she did and now she was drowning, drowning in his pain, his guilt, his anger.

Her mouth fell open wordlessly and her eyebrows contracted in pain.

_Monster._

_Stolen relic._

_What am I?_

_TELL ME!_

_You are my son_.

No.

_No!_

Pain. So much pain

_Worthless runt._

Red.

Blood.

Pain.

_It hurts._

_No._

_Thor, help me._

_NO, PLEASE-_

_Jotun runt._

_Stop_, please, stop, it hurts, you're hurting me, you're hurting _her_ -

He flinched, back into reality, pulled back by a single string of thought. Louie was staring at him, into his eyes and Loki recoiled at the expression they held.

She had seen everything and her expression was proof of it. He shrank back, trying to move his useless limbs but he couldn't and it hurt and _why was she staring at him like that- ?_

There was horror, anger and immense sadness in her gaze and he was apologizing before he knew it, a flood of surface thoughts trying to barricade her against the memories, they weren't stopping -

_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please, I didn't mean for that to happen, I'm sorry-_

She was ignoring him and silently, a tear etched its way down her cheek. She was crying and he did it, of course he did it, it was his fault, all he did was bring pain but he _was_ sorry, he _was_, stop the _hurt-!_

Her conscious snapped back out of him like a rubber band and then, it reentered; this time it was her pain that filled his mind. She was pulling him in, into her thoughts and he didn't want to know of her disgust because he secretly loved her fascination of him, of how he was an enigma to her but now she'd see his lies, see them all and he would know exactly how she'd feel and he didn't _want_ to -

_No, no, I don't want to see, I don't want to see, NO, PLEASE, I CAN'T STAND IT -_

He was sobbing too, his breath ragged and tears blurring his eyes but she was not stopping.

For the first time she spoke, in his mind.

_Loki_.

And it was filled with so much kindness and something much more and Loki was gasping like a fish out of water because he couldn't breathe, her pain was so strong, how could he have hurt her this way, how_, HOW- ?_

She was in agony, pure, unfiltered pain and he fought it, because he denied it and denying was what he did best but she was strong, determined, she wanted to show him something, she wanted to show him something… What was it? What was it?

There it was…

_Tell me, tell me, I need to know, console me…_

Wasn't because she was angry at him, no, it was because she was in agony _for_ him, she was in agony _FOR_ him, for him, _HIM_, worthless he, she was sharing his pain and his tears and she was crying with him and all she was begging in her mind was for him to _stop_ _hurting_, she was begging to God, to the Allfather, to Yggdrasil itself to please, please, _please_ make him stop hurting, it's too much, nobody could bear it, she couldn't stand to see him this way because he didn't deserve it, it was killing him, oh _please_, end the _pain_.

And strangely, it calmed him down. As the seconds ticked away his mind reeled itself back in and his breathing returned to journal. His tears dried and he felt drained, much more than he had at the beginning of this ordeal.

He blinked, hazy, cruel, embarrassing reality coming to life.

Tears cooled on his cheeks, drops that weren't his own mingling on his skin. His head was on his brother's knee and his hands holding onto the palms placed flat on his chest. His heart thudded away beneath Louie's fingertips.

He was immeasurably tired. So tired that he didn't care that Tony was holding his wrist, taking his pulse, that Thor was carrying him like he was a newlywed bride, that Louie's fingers had slipped into his hair and that occasionally, he could feel her shake with suppressed sobs. So tired he couldn't remember what he said or did and so tired that he faded in and out of consciousness throughout the entire journey.

Louie was white and strangely quiet all the way back ho- to Stark Tower. Nevertheless, the pressure of her hand never disappeared from his.

* * *

**Louie POV**

Had it been less than a day ago that I was out at a party, worried about Loki the way a teenager might worry about their first crush?

Coming out of Loki's head, I felt like I had aged hundreds of years along with him. I couldn't speak. He had so much hurt, so much pain locked away in him. Torture, abandonment, lost love, grief, hate, a raging self hate… I couldn't help the tears any more.

I cried, I did. I cried for Loki, for how much he hurt and for how much I wanted it to stop so he could be whole again.

When I looked at Thor, the anguish in his eyes seemed to mirror my own and I understood, completely and wholly. I didn't need half assed guesses anymore. This was his true pain. This was what he had to be healed of. This was what Thor yearned to heal.

I put both my hands on Loki's chest and weakly he brought his hands up to hold mine. I let him take what he wanted, what he knew how to take better than I knew how to give.

A tiny pounding began in my temples.

Five minutes passed, then ten. No-one spoke, although Tony and Natasha stood next to us, silent sentinels until the job was done.

Finally, finally, Loki let out a quiet sigh and let my hands go. His eyelids drooped.

"Brother?" asked Thor softly; stroking his hair with a gentleness one would think was impossible, coming from him. He got no reply but no animosity either, no angry, rebellious glare. Just a quiet look that said _I'm tired, Thor. I'm tired._

"You had a seizure of some sort," I said, reaching out and wiping some blood from his chin. His emerald eyes looked at me, but they were so unfocused, so dazed, they barely seemed to acknowledge the action.

"Come on," I said, "let's go home."

* * *

Loki slept for two days straight.

Tony's paperwork began piling up in Loki's room because I took to finishing it all in there. Since I was a walking, talking bag of magical fluid, Bruce let me hover around, let me give Loki the energy he needed.

Thor gravitated around the room too, never quite far away. On the third day, when Loki woke up and sighed, Thor got up two rooms away and clambered for the door, upending a table and knocking down Tony and Bruce along the way.

"Brother," he said, hurrying to his side. I let go of Loki's hand with a grin. I was tired, but man, seeing Thor at his happiest, all full blown, crinkly eyed smiles was totally worth it.

"I'm fine, Thor," he said, folding his arms.

"I am very glad to hear that," said Thor, and not even Loki and his cold stone heart could deny that. Thor was happy. Thor's happiness was infectious. Loki's lips twitched slightly.

"Well, I'm hungry," he said succinctly.

"Food. Yes. I shall get you food." Thor stood, so unsure on his feet that he did a little dance in one spot. "I shall bring you the Captain's finest pancakes."

He hurried out the door, and judging by the grunts and the loud apologies that followed ("I am sorry, my friends but my brother has awakened!") Thor had knocked over the scientists again.

The smile faded and Loki fixed his gaze on me. Guilt, I thought immediately. That was the emotion he was reflecting.

"You are alright?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine, yeah," my throat felt rather dry.

"Look," I said as Loki opened his mouth, "just - just listen to me, okay?" Loki raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I'm sorry for leaving you thinking we weren't friends. Because we are." Loki's heart rate spiked on the monitor, beating a violent tattoo.

"Just because you pity me –"

"I do not pity you," I cut across him, the anger rising again. Not at him, but at whatever it was that had given him this major inferiority complex. I fought it down. Misinterpretation was something Loki did best. "I – I hurt for you. I felt your pain. And as your friend, I say, I'm sorry, for not seeing it sooner."

"I have no friends," he whispered, deathly pale, his eyes looking enormous in his thin face, "I am alone, I do not deserve –"

"No, you do," I didn't care that I was practically shouting, that Bruce had come running to see what was wrong. "God, you know - do you know how I know you're my friend?"

He shook his head and I couldn't decide if it was a reply or a denial of every word coming out of my mouth.

"I know you're my friend because - because only a friend can look at me and then sacrifice himself without another thought, the way you did with Pepper and me. Only friends do that. That, by the way, is something you are never to do again because _god_, Loki, you don't _do_ that to your partner, you just _don't_.

"We are partners. We are friends, Loki I'm sorry I didn't know that before but I do now and you don't make the shots on your own, okay? Not about stuff that involve putting your life at risk. You tell me before you go off on a self-sacrificial, suicidal death spree. Or else - or else I'll personally kick your ass into goddamn kingdom come."

"Nobody trusts me," he said hoarsely, echoes of his wounded throat still remaining. "Nobody." I inhaled sharply. This was about the torrent of things I'd seen, he and I both knew it. But not now. Now was not the time to get into that ugly pool of feelings.

Baby steps, I reminded myself.

"Yeah?" I reached for his hand, immediately feeling his very existence in my bones. As always, it was slightly cool at first, but a second or two later, it heated up.

"You think I don't know you have an unlimited power source when you touch me?" I whispered, so the eavesdroppers at the door couldn't hear me. "I know you do. You could suck the life out of me like a Dementor and make a break for it but you don't. You _won't_. I know you won't because _I trust you._"

Loki he didn't say anything for the longest time. I stayed silent. I had laid out all my cards on the table. The ball was in his court now. After a while he spoke.

"I do not know what a Dementor is." I cracked a smile. It was a start.

"Well then, as your friend, I make it my official duty to enlighten you."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, confession time. I had a terrible week. I was actually experiencing writer's block and I was reading headcanons and looking through fanart and fics and things, trying to get inspired but then I got so many angsty feels, probably just venting out the troubles I have. I apologize if it messes with the story; this chapter was supposed to be serious but it wasn't supposed to go _this far._

Sigh, I had promised myself when writing this I won't go angst, it was supposed to be humor but along the way it developed a plot and the plot bunny dug a hole so deep I've fallen in and I'm stuck.

But it did, and well, I feel all angsted out so it won't happen again. Also I think it was a good reason for Loki and Louie to be jerked out of their tiny problem.

Also yeah, mutants are going to end up in this story.

Anyway. I hope the ending made up for all that jazz.

Let me know what you think.

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's Note: **So, we passed 10,000 views :D I'm so glad and I'm also so very happy about the reviews, follows and favourites, thank you ALL.

Replies to reviews:

**TheIronBat:** I have a love-hate relationship with the chapters that make heartstrings tug; I feel slightly bad for the readers when that happens haha. I LOVE HAPPY THOR. Happy Thor rocks:D I'm you like all of that intense stuff, I was scared it wouldn't go down well but it did! Thanks so much for the review, and for reviewing every chapter! It truly made my day. I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**KAYKAY22PRINCESS**: Hey, you! Thanks for the review! I hope you like this chapter too!

Queen Martha Pond: Thank you so much! I'm so relieved to hear that you liked the angsty parts. (between you and me I can't promise it wont happen again; if I get in the mood for it, I might just cry buckets of angst into this story. Thanks so much for taking the time to review, you're one of my faithful reviewers and I'm so glad about it :) I hope you like this chapter!

**TriggerHarpy:** Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad to hear I didn't go wrong by making it so serious all of a sudden. I really hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**LilliannaStone**: Oooh, I'm glad to hear this! I know my story is part crack, but I wanted it that way because I wanted this to be a lighthearted fic. At the same time, I want to be at least a little realistic and I think I achieved that somewhat in the last chapter. Thanks so much for your review, I hope you enjoy this next chapter too!

**aqua-empress**: Hey there! I'm glad you like the fic. Yes, I know exactly what you mean, this fic has about much depth as a saucer of water but it is kind of what I chose to do anyway. I know it's heavy stuff, Loki and his tragedy, but I was so determined to give him some happiness I chose to skim over all the dramatic, heavy, cruel stuff. I am super aware the fic gets really childish at times lol. Thanks so much for your review, I love it when I get honest opinions and constructive criticism! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**Crystal12**: Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review! I hope you enjoy this next chapter too!

Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 18**

**Natasha POV**

Natasha fidgeted in her sick bay bed as Bruce reattached her sling. She had been out and about for the better part of the week but then a run in with a villain had left her with a pulled muscle, a broken sling and a very cross Captain America who grounded her and put her in the sick bay with Loki.

She didn't know what was making her more uncomfortable - the sling itself, the fact that she had been all but strapped to her bed for three days or the fact that Loki was in the bed opposite her. He was certainly not the best roommate in the world. Sure, he was quiet but he was hardly ever more than icily cordial to any of the Avengers except maybe Thor and Louie.

He snapped at Tony (who loved it), stayed well away from Clint, hovered around Bruce warily and all but ignored her. Only Steve managed to stay on his good side, although that wasn't surprising; everyone was nice to Steve.

He was still ignoring her and although it was relieving at first, Natasha began to get bored. She was observant by nature and now that she had time to sit and see, she could observe many things.

Loki had nightmares. She was a light sleeper and had had her own fair share of bad dreams but Loki's seemed to surpass her on extreme levels.

She could hear him sometimes, jerking awake on the middle of the night. When she woke up in the morning he was always awake. An early riser he may claim to be but Natasha guessed he just never went back to sleep.

"You're staring," he snapped and she twitched, caught when she realised he was talking to Louie.

"You're in such a shitty mood today," Louie tutted loudly. "Keep it up and your face will freeze that way."

"But I'm bored," he whined, "I've seen enough of the interior of this room to last me ten lifetimes."

"Well, that's too bad because you and I both know you're not leaving until you're feeling better."

Loki set his lips in a thin line and Natasha and Bruce watched as a tendril of green magic curled through the air at Louie. She eyed it warily as it hit her hair. Within a second it had turned her long mane a bright, electric blue.

Louie gave her new do a critical look before shrugging and flipping it over her shoulder.

"I've always wanted to go blue," she said. "All you did was save me three boxes' worth hair dye and a trip to the salon." Loki scowled and Louie picked up her novels and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Loki grumbled. Louie gave him a look that had Natasha herself wincing.

"You just pointed all of your anger at innocent old me. Friends don't do that to each other. Neither do they hide things that are worrying them." This had been going on for about all the time Loki had been in the sick bay, according to Bruce. Whenever Loki tried to act like an angst-ridden teenager, Louie either ignored him or left in peace. Natasha suspected that it was because Louie was onto him and his act. Unless he genuinely was upset about something, Louie never rose to his bait.

"I'm not worried," said Loki flippantly. Louie snorted.

"Oh, please, Loki, I just spent a week attached to your brain. You're worried." She hefted her books onto one arm, balancing them on her hip.

"I'm going to go finish some reports. When you're in a better mood I'll be back. Later Brucie, Nat!" she called as she left the bay. Bruce let out a little snort of amusement.

"I think she just gave Loki a time out." Natasha shook her head, smiling.

"Well, he does behave like a six year old throwing a tantrum in a supermarket."

"_He_ is right here and he can hear every word you're saying," said Loki, folding his arms and huddling in his bed in a full blown sulk.

"Why don't you just tell her about the nightmares?" Natasha asked casually. Bruce groaned quietly under his breath. Loki stiffened.

"I'm... uh, I'm going to go get this – thing – now, okay –," said Bruce beating a hasty retreat.

"That is what's on your mind, right?"

"And what's it to you agent Romanoff?" asked Loki sitting up and eyeing her coolly. She folded her arms, not backing down.

"All she's trying to do is help you. You just keep pushing her away, even after she practically slapped that fact that she's your friend into your thick Norse skull. I think you're laying on the hostility a little too thick, don't you?" Insults were never the way to go with Loki; he tensed even more.

"My ledger is also red, Agent. Tell me, do you tell Barton about the nightmares that plague you?" Natasha bit her lip, her own nightly horrors flashing before her eyes.

"Exactly," Loki smiled cruelly. "I'm just sparing Louie the pain." Natasha grinned.

"Actually, I never said I wasn't telling him anything. You should really stop assuming things about me."

Loki blinked. "What?"

"I tell Clint everything," Natasha chuckled. "And you just admitted something. You just said that you keep things from Louie to spare her the pain." Loki's mouth opened and closed like a goldfish.

"That is – I mean –," he broke off looking flustered and Natasha outright laughed.

"Cat got your silver tongue?" she asked, amused. Loki twirled his finger in a circle, eyeing her hair menacingly.

"Don't you dare," she warned, "I still have a gun on me." That threw Loki off.

"_Where?_" he asked, looking perturbed. Natasha merely threw him a smirk that usually scared people out of their wits. Loki too looked slightly wary.

"You shouldn't keep things from her," Natasha said, "that's not how a partnership works."

"I do what I want," muttered Loki half heartedly. He worried his lip with his teeth and they spent a few minutes in quiet silence.

"Did you wipe it out?" he asked finally.

"Wipe what out?" asked Natasha. She met his gaze head on, surprised to find emerald eyes blazing.

"All that red?" Natasha would have been annoyed, angry even at the taunt but Loki's eyes held a frantic sort of quality that made her pause and think. It wasn't even a proper attempt at a taunt - as far as Loki went, it was pretty pathetic. Underneath the half-assed jab, real curiousity lay, lurking out of sight.

He really wanted to know, Natasha realized with a jolt and he wanted to know because he wanted to learn _how_.

Natasha smiled, a genuine, shadow-less one, and sat up.

"I made a different call," she said.

"But how? How could you do it so easily?" Loki was staring at her like she was the most important thing in the world. She had seen some of the new SHIELD recruits look at her this way sometimes when she told them (part) of her story of redemption, the ones who had been through hard times, the ones who wanted to know how to make right really badly and desperately needed a guide to show them how.

"It wasn't easy. You and I both know my past is as bloody as yours. If we make a ratio of lifespan to number of kills, I might even beat you. But I was given a second chance and I took it." Natasha shook her head sighing.

"Before the Avengers," she said, a sad smile now gracing her lips, "the only person who trusted me was Clint. Nobody else in SHIELD did, unless you counted the higher-ups like Fury. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to win their trust. It wasn't. Nobody even _liked_ me. But I clung to my second chance with all I had and now look where I am." Loki stared at her, emotions racing past in his dark eyes.

"I have done unforgivable things," he whispered.

Natasha cocked her head. "Yeah, but so have I. It began to chance when I began to regret. Do _you_ regret your actions?" She watched with bated breath as the god thought about it.

"Some," he whispered finally. "Yes." Unconsciously his hand strayed to his chest, rubbing it gently and Natasha didn't need to know what regrets he was talking about.

There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Hey there," said Clint, strolling in and hopping onto the foot of Natasha's bed. Loki sat back in his own bed, eyeing him warily.

"Bruce says he's letting the both of you go," said Clint, talking to Natasha but loud enough for the Loki to hear.

"Excellent," she said swinging her legs off the bed. "I feel the need for a nice, long bath." She nodded to Loki who was edging out of bed carefully, wincing as he did so and hooked her good arm around Clint's.

"And you're going to help me," she said to the archer.

"I like the sound of that."

Over her shoulder she shot Loki one last glance, feeling much warmer towards the demigod that she ever had. She was beginning to understand what light Tony had seen in the darkness that was the god of Lies. She saw her own demons within him and that made her stop and think twice about him. Maybe this was the reason Tony and Bruce had so willingly accepted Loki into their folds.

The god felt remorse, this much Natasha knew. He had acted bravely, a feat worth of Thor and his stupidly bold courage. It was an act Natasha felt made him personally worthy to start a different path.

And Natasha felt that irrespective of what he had done, what he had done to _Clint_, she could maybe help him on that path.

She sighed quietly in contentment as her warring thoughts finally reached an acceptable conclusion. She was on team Loki, then. Damn. She chuckled to herself and then winced at the thought of explaining this to Clint.

* * *

**Louie POV  
**

I cocked my gun, exhaling like I'd seen the soldier do and released a bullet.

Slightly off the mark but at least I managed to hit the target this time.

Putting the gun away on the wall where it belonged, I flexed my fingers. I didn't want to call my magic to me, not today. After days of having Loki attached like a leech to my arm, I wasn't sure I was ready for that.

"Is there a reason there are books at the doorway?" an amused voice asked. Steve sauntered in, hands in his pockets.

He was eyeing his punching bag as he did and I could tell he wanted to have a go at it.

I shrugged. "I got distracted."

"By a gun, huh?" Steve hummed critically. "Is something wrong Louie?" He was watching me closely.

_Just like your daddy._

I rolled my eyes.

"You and Tony are both the same, you know that?" I reprimanded him. "I'm fine. A little tired, but fine."

"Any reason your hair is blue?" he asked. I snorted.

"You like?" I asked, flipping it and batting my eyelashes. Steve wisely chose not to answer. Steve twiddled his thumbs.

"I came to tell you Loki and Nat were released today."

"Oh, that's excellent," I beamed, before frowning shrewdly. "And Jarvis couldn't have told me this?" Steve looked away guiltily.

"I may have needed someone to talk to." I snapped to attention. Steve wasn't the type of person to open up about his problems easily. As the leader of the Avengers he seemed to be under the impression he had to hold it together for everyone else's sake so as nice as he was, he rarely ever opened up to people.

"I'm listening," I said carefully. Steve sighed.

"D'you want to spar, maybe?"

* * *

**Steve POV**

Steve was in this new world, first and foremost not what people would assume. He was not first Captain America. He was first a stranger out of time.

As a soldier, he was always adamant on having a routine of some sort. Routine meant organization, organization meant sanity. But the new world was so big and at the same time smaller, making it difficult for him to fit it into his routine. It was confusing and distressing, to say the least.

There were days on which it was unbearable and days on which he forgot that he was out of place here. Stark Tower had helped on those days because Stark Tower was the best of both worlds. It had not always been so. There had been a time when all Stark Tower did was remind him of how much the world had advanced in his absence and how much he had not learnt and how much he had to learn.

Then Loki had come to them and suddenly, the tower that had once been just a resting spot for most of the Avengers became the common ground they trod on. United and wary against a common enemy, the Tower that was once just him, Tony Bruce and Pepper had expanded to hold Clint and Natasha, Loki and Louie, Thor, Jane and Darcy.

And that meant he wasn't the only one unfamiliar with the modern world. Thor had the same qualms he did and it often fell to Darcy to explain everything to them, bit by bit. Even Loki had his troubles once in a while but he was surprisingly efficient at navigating his way around most electronic things.

During the first few weeks, before Loki's trial, Stark Tower had been hell to live in. Squabbles broke out everywhere and Steve took to leaving the Tower, going out on runs more often, going to museums, doing anything he possibly could to just get away.

But as the days dragged on, things began to change. Loki became less and less of an outright hostile towards them, even on occasion volunteering to spar with them or teach them a handy trick. Not graciously, mind you, he still looked down on the rest of them like they were something nasty he'd found on the underside of his boot, but even that began to change.

Steve was cautious around the Asgardian and he still wouldn't trust him to go out on a mission or didn't put it past him to conjure up some villainous plan and make their heads explode before running.

But Loki became less tense, less angry at the world and Steve began suspecting that the aloof act was all really an act.

On occasion, Steve helped him navigate his way through seven hundred channels on the television (Steve really missed the days when it was just one channel) and then Loki would deign to watch something they both enjoyed. (Such as the Disney channel. Say what you want, but Olaf was a real cute little fella).

Then, after what happened with Pepper and Darcy, Steve was beginning to think there was more to Loki than they had all assumed. Trust was difficult to give, but Natasha, _Natasha,_ of all people had spoken up for him at the exclusive Avengers meeting they had yesterday. Her arm was in a cast but it made her no less impressive after her statement.

"Loki, he's changing. He's not at a place where I can say he's trustworthy just yet but he's on the way. How can I be sure you may ask? I see myself in him." She looked straight at Clint as she said that last bit. Steve didn't know much about Natasha but he could safely say that if a woman like her trusted Loki then he would at least try to do the same.

She kind of reminded him of Peggy at that moment, all business and no nonsense.

Nevertheless it was safe to say that what once had been all-out animosity between them and Loki was not now as it was before. Sure, Clint still liked to twirl an arrow when they were in the same room together but beyond being slightly wary, they had gotten accustomed to Loki's presence in the building. Even some of the office staff on the uppermost floors had gotten used to him; enough to not have a panic attack whenever his person slid down the elevator.

However, it wasn't like they were well on the road to healing and redemption. Loki, unlike Thor wasn't friendly and jovial. He was quiet, the introvert and Steve rather suspected this to have come from years of being by Thor's side. He had a sudden mental image of himself being at Bucky's side, silent and shy as his friend worked his charm on the ladies.

Loki certainly had a quiet persona around him that _screamed_ of years being the silent right hand man and it simply didn't occur to the god to be friendlier because Steve could tell that that was Thor's job. Loki was damage control, the additional cherry on top, the final nail in the coffin to seal the deal. He was, Steve could tell, not doing this silent thing on purpose. It was simply his nature to let Thor take the lead and so he did. Steve could see the routine between the brothers. Loki almost always stepped back in relief letting Thor do the talking for him, if he so required. Which was funny, considering how Thor wasn't the one they called Silvertongue.

So, Steve supposed, if Loki was more cordial maybe he'd garner more friendly faces. But that wasn't happening anytime soon, if the current state of I-Am-Above-You-All did not end.

Steve put thoughts of Loki aside and smiled at Darcy who was making her way to him on the sofa.

"How are you?" he asked. Both Pepper and Darcy had been treated separately from Loki and Natasha, by an actual doctor, not Bruce, because explaining their problem would have been easier than explaining Loki and Natasha's existence on Earth.

Darcy waved her heavily bandaged arm in front of his face.

"Except for this thing? Perfectly fine. But I can't wash my hair properly without getting it wet, so that sucks. I have something for you."

"Oh?" Steve asked. Darcy tucked a curl behind her ears shyly.

"I know you're taste in music isn't like mine, so I've been doing some research." She perched on the sofa next to him and handed him a pair of earphones. She connected them and her own to her iPod with a little gadget, taking care to explaining to Steve that it was a double headed jack for two earphones to be plugged into.

"So, I did some research," she said, "and I looked into songs from seventy years ago until now and their all in chronological order. I tried to go for songs that I thought would be to your taste but if there's something that stands out in American pop culture like a sore thumb, I put that in too."

Steve felt a sudden rush of affection for the young woman. Darcy wasn't superhuman or magical or a genius like Tony but she was brave and she was caring and Steve found himself drawing a parallel between her and Peggy too.

It was pure wit and brains and an openhearted friendliness that played in Darcy's favour. She couldn't get him the latest technology around or know how to conduct an experiment on whether he was immune to a certain virus or not or fight with him so he could let off some steam but she _was_ special. She was kind and she did the little things instead. Darcy told him how to operate the toaster, how to get to the best coffee shop in the city and back around New York. She would stay up at night, reading manuals and information on the internet to explain to him _exactly_ how this or that worked.

And now she was telling him about music, and to make it all the more easy for him she'd gone to lengths to make sure it was music he'd like. It was simple and sweet and totally Darcy-like.

So he did something utterly unexpected, utterly out of routine. Steve sidled closer to Darcy and hesitantly put his arm around her, watching her expectantly.

Unfortunately Darcy didn't do anything much about it. She simple fiddled with the iPod and beamed, and music played softly in his ears.

"So this is – Steve? What's wrong?"

He shook his head, feeling slightly out of sorts. He was being stupid, again. This was the twenty first century, and he - he wasn't doing anything here that made Darcy believe he had any intention of going anywhere with this. Was he even going anywhere with this? What did this mean? That he was ready to get into the dating scene again? How could he, when in this time and century, people's idea of a relationship consisted of a speed he wasn't ready for and as with all things, was something he was too outdated at?

"Steve?" Darcy looked slightly worried; her glasses perched on her nose and only one ear bud in.

Steve kissed her.

* * *

Louie stumbled back, slipped and landed on her behind.

"You _what_?" she asked, looking utterly shocked. Steve sighed and sat down, crossing his legs.

"It was stupid, I know," he said burying his face in his hands, "I think I completely misread the situation, God, I was mortified."

"Steve, no, wait," a smile was spreading across her face, "no, this is good, Steve, wow, I mean – wait, was that your first kiss? Since you've been unfrozen?"

"Why does everyone assume this?" he complained. "No, no it wasn't. I had to kiss Natasha on a mission too, once."

"Oh, yeah," said Louie nodding, "I remember her telling us that."

"Us?" Steve asked, momentarily distracted. "Who are 'us'?"

Louie shrugged, "all the girls."

"Including Darcy?" Steve asked wincing. Louie scrunched up her nose.

"Yep." Steve groaned, burying his face in his hands again.

"I'm so embarrassed."

"Steve," Louie was grinning again, he could hear the smile in her voice, "Steve, why is this a bad thing? You took an initiative. You should be, I dunno, going and telling Tony and bro-fisting or something."

Steve sighed.

"Let me finish."

* * *

"N-no, it's okay," Darcy was going red, eyes wide. Steve ran a hand through his hair. Images were flashing through his head, Peggy, Bucky, Peggy, the crash, over and over and unconsciously he shuddered.

"This is not right, this," he gestured weakly, "I shouldn't have done it. You – you might be having a boyfriend for all I know, and wow, I don't, this was a mistake, I'm sorry."

She didn't have a boyfriend, he knew this for sure. Darcy had shared a lot of titbits about her family and life with him during the time they'd spent together. She was open to telling him ordinary details, something he greatly enjoyed because he felt like he was living a few normal moments in a normal person's life. He was sure a boyfriend would have come up if there was one.

"That was terrible," he shook his head, "I assumed – and Peggy – I'm sorry, God, I'm still terrible at this."

* * *

Louie stared. And stared. And stared.

"And you just _left_?" she asked incredulously. Steve shrugged miserably.

"She got real snappy after that and I thought it would be best."

"Oh my –," Louie smacked her forehead, very, very hard. "Steve. She likes you. That was just Darcy's way of covering up the fact that she was hurt."

"I – what?"

"And you mentioned Peggy?" Louie shook her head sympathetically. "Steve, Steve, Steve of _course_ she would be snappy at you, you mentioned your old love interest, after kissing _her_."

"How was I supposed to know that wasn't right?" cried Steve. A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Peggy was chastising him.

_You still don't know a bloody thing about women._

"Aren't you supposed to be the gentlemanly one?" Louie shot back. "Oh no, and you said that was terrible? Well done Captain, you just said she was a bad kisser, what happened had no chance of going anywhere _and_ you mentioned and old girlfriend in a way that definitely left her thinking you're still hung up on her. Nice. Very nice."

Steve had the grace to look ashamed.

"I didn't mean it," he said in a small voice, "I just, I panicked." Louie glared at him before sighing softly, her eyes warm.

"Okay, stop, you look like someone just shot your puppy." Steve didn't feel very much better. Louie sighed once more.

"Steve, what's this all about?" Steve scratched his head tiredly.

"I do have, feelings for Darcy," he admitted, "but we're so different. She doesn't exactly match up with me on life experience, you know. Nobody does" Louie snorted, amused.

"And you think Jane matches Thor's life experience? Steve, I think you're just looking for an excuse to hold yourself back." Steve winced.

It was true, he supposed, but would he really be doing the right thing to start something he might not be able to finish? His future was riddled with danger and uncertainty. Would it really be fair to do something like this, to emotionally compromise another person and to burden them with, well, _him_? He told Louie so.

Louie tapped her chin.

"You soldier types are always real masochists, aren't you?"

"It comes with the job, I guess," said Steve wryly. Louie shook her head.

"I don't understand why you're being so harsh on yourself, I don't expect you to tell me why but there is a reason, don't deny it," she added as he opened his mouth to protest, "but you can't keep it bottled up and you can't deny yourself any happiness. You've been though hell and back and well, I think you can stop and catch your breath now.

"Or what were you planning to do, spend the rest of your life alone? Don't be stupid, Steve; this is the twenty-first century. Sooner or later you'll be hounded by crazy fan girls." Steve had to laugh at that and he felt himself go red.

Louie's eyes widened.

"Oh its already happening isn't it? My God, they move fast." Steve flicked her gently on the nose, feeling a little better. There was a lot of tough truth in what Louie said but for the first time he wasn't feeling so blue about his… situation.

"There is nothing wrong with what you want Steve," said Louie gently, "it's natural and Darcy is a great girl. She can understand and take in stride more than most girls could about you. She wouldn't be sticking around if she couldn't handle it."

"So, what do I do?" Steve asked desperately. "It was a huge misunderstanding and Darcy, well; she has her taser on her." Louie shrugged.

"You grovel, you idiot, that's what you do. You take her some flowers and you explain exactly why you did what you did and then take her out somewhere, to the movies maybe. And hey, Valentine's Day is around the corner, so plan something special. You _do_ want to date her, right?" Steve nodded.

"Of course," he said a little indignantly, "I don't string women along."

"I believe you. Well anyway, it's about damn time you came around. Make sure you express very clearly that you are quite over Peggy, you hear me? _Steve, you don't have to write this dow_ – oh fine, you know what, yeah, take notes. Maybe you can go share them with the class sometime."

As he wrote, he felt Louie's eyes on him.

"So, who was Peggy anyway?" she asked curiously. Steve fidgeted and smiled, that old, sad ache coming into his heart.

"She was my girl, back then. She was funny, and strong and brave and determined. A real feminist."

"What happened to her?" The ache grew.

"She lived her life, Louie. She got married, she had a family. She had her happiness. She's still alive," he added, answering her unspoken question. "I went to see her once. She – she has dementia." Louie's eyes filled with sadness.

"Oh, Steve," she said quietly, "I'm sorry."

She really was, Steve realized. She was sorry, sorry for his misfortune, sorry for his pain. Steve shook his head.

"Peggy would've wanted this. She wants me to live my life."

"And you should." A warm hand clasped his. "You deserve a chance at happiness. You do." Steve nodded, finally able to sit straight and relax.

"I do, don't I?" Louie nodded firmly.

"Now go get her, champ."

* * *

**Darcy POV**

Darcy needed ice cream. A lot of ice cream. Dragging herself to the freezer she pulled out the nearest thing and flung herself in front of the TV

She finished the tub halfway through in one go, miserable and more than slightly let down because damn she thought she'd had a chance with Steve Rogers. In Darcy's head, Steve was a normal guy who was a little lost. Captain America was a star spangled patriot who drank the essence of America for breakfast and represented all that was good in the world. Darcy liked Captain America but she _liked_ Steve.

But clearly, Steve was taken. She should have known the man was still emotionally unavailable.

Darcy nursed her melting Chocolate Swirl, letting out a big sigh.

"Stupid," she muttered. "Stupid."

Someone cleared their throat. Darcy looked up, wide eyed, to see a sheepish Steve holding what seemed to be half a flower shop and a balloon that said 'I'm sorry'.

"I think it speaks for itself," said Steve, noticing her looking. She dumbly took it and the flowers as Steve shuffled his feet slightly in front of her.

"I think you deserve an explanation," he said, hanging his head and looking very much like a little boy caught doing something wrong. "You have to understand, no, you do understand, that I feel so out of place in this world. When I was making a complete idiot out of myself before it was because I was unsure how to – to proceed here. Dating back then was pretty different from what it is now, and I was worried I was doing something wrong. It doesn't really help that my experience with women is nil.

"I was at war with myself about this, because I do want this, with you but I'm not really sure how or what I'm supposed to do. It was a moment in which I panicked but that doesn't mean I regret what I did and I'm willing to try if you are." Darcy felt a little tug in her heart. Steve spoke so earnestly that she believed him.

"Oh, and for the record," he added, "I'm way over Peggy. She lived her life, she moved on and so have I and you're a very good kisser and would you go to the movies with me, Darcy?"

Darcy couldn't help but smile.

"I'd love to, Steve," she replied.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki walked quietly towards the library, his steps small and calculated so that he wouldn't get tired too soon. Once he made it to the kitchen however, he halted and spun around, backing away swiftly and silently.

A hand pressed into the small of his back and he jumped.

"Are they in there?" whispered Louie, eyes shining.

"If you're talking about Captain Rogers and Miss Lewis, yes, they are but I do not think _you_ should go in there."

"Why?" asked Louie, moving forward to take a look. "Oh, right." She grabbed his wrist.

"Come on; let's go up to the rooftop. Give them a little privacy."

"But the library is through there," Loki complained.

"Yes, but I'm trying to play matchmaker and it's working." Loki pretended to sulk.

"But the rooftop _bores_ me." Louie rolled her eyes.

"Well, what would you rather do?" she asked. Her smallest finger hooked on his and she swung their hands amiably. Loki shrugged, falling into an easy pace next to her.

"We could program Tony's suits to dance in synchrony." Louie halted.

"You can do that?" she asked. Loki looked at her in disbelief.

"Are you telling me you've forgotten I am _the_ Trickster? Your hair is still blue." Louie's eyes began to dance with a new, wicked sort of smile that Loki found himself liking at once.

"I know the password to the labs."

* * *

**A/N: **I realise the Darcy Steve scene at the end is pretty short but you have to understand, I am not writing Starcy stuff here. The focal point of the story is Loki-Louie and the ultimate goal of this chapter was to show those two bonding with other characters in the story.

If there are any Darcy-Steve fans out there, I frankly apologize for this being so brief, but I hope it satisfied your little shipper hearts to some extent :)

I also realize Steve sounds like a twelve year old, but tell me you didn't feel like he'd totally act this way and say these things, after watching The First Avenger. He can be so flustered and lost around women lol. Adorkable, simply adorkable. Also how the heck is this thing more than 5k words, it feels like a terribly short chapter D:

Btw, does anyone know where I can get a cover picture for this story?

That's it for now, lovelies.

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's NOte: YO. So, so, SO sorry for the huge delay everyone, but I moved houses and that was a big change in my life, so I didn't have the time or the motivation to write for a while. But, I hope this chapter makes up for that! **

**Queen Martha Pond: **I'm glad you love the trickster side of Loki; I think it's my favorite side of him too! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I'm so sorry you had to wait so long for an update. Thanks for the review!

**TheIronBat**: Aww, I love hearing that my updates make you happy!It's that kind of thing that motivates me to write. I've a feeling you're gonna like this chapter, so I hope it makes up for the long wait in between updates! Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Clementine Buttersnaps**: Hello there :D Welcome to the story, and thanks for the lovely reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and didn't get put off by the long wait in between updates. I agree. Those two really need to just get it on. Well, I'll let you get to it then. Again, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Crystal12**: Well, then, I'm sure you're going to like this chapter! Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! So sorry for keeping you waiting, by the way. I hope you like it!

**Zepha**: Hi thurrr! Thanks for the lovely review! I hope you like this chapter too, because it has BUCKETS of Loki in it! Sorry for the long wait in between chapters though, and I hope the chapter makes up for it!

**Person**: Hi! Thanks for your lovely review! I'm so glad you like the story. I must tell you, it was YOUR review that made me get off my butt and motivated to write again! So THANK YOU! I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I apologize for keeping you waiting.

**Okie dokie, all. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize except Louie and the Typos.**

* * *

**Pepper POV**

Pepper was humming as she danced across from drawer to drawer. As a busy woman, she rarely ever found the time to do something as simple as make lunch, but today she did and today she was ready to make a meal to satisfy seventy hungry Thors. As she reached for the salt, the door opened and Tony and Bruce entered, both looking slightly displeased.

"We're here, your majesty," grumbled Tony, "now, will you give us our our food so we can get back to sciencing?" Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"What in the world are you talking about?" Tony rolled his eyes.

"Very funny, Pep, but we were in the middle of a breakthrough, so if you could just give us our lunch and reopen the lab for us-"

"I didn't lock you out of your lab," said Pepper in confusion, "In fact, I would have waited another hour before I did, considering how I just started on lunch." Tony stared at her disbelievingly.

"I think she's telling the truth, Tony," said Bruce, rubbing his arm nervously. Pepper snorted.

"Of course I am. You're both an hour early."

"An hour early? Then who-?" At that very moment, there was a great trumpeting symphony and orchestra music blasted throughout the building. Cries of shock and annoyance erupted throughout Stark Tower and inhabitants fell out of cubicles and winced in pain as their computers were taken over by the deafening noise.

From the topmost floor to the bottom, the _Nutcracker_ was playing and Pepper dropped her spoon and clapped her hands to her ears.

"Tony," she yelled, "what are you doing?"

"I didn't do anything!" Tony yelled, back looking upset.

"Tony..." Bruce was staring out the big glass wall. Pepper followed his gaze and her mouth fell open as several red gold blurs shot up into the air..

"The roof," said Tony, scrambling to the elevator, Pepper and Bruce at his heels. At the elevator they the some of the other inhabitants of the Tower, looking rather alarmed. They shot towards the topmost floor and fell out of the glass box, opera music still blasting on high. As the piece reached its crescendo, Tony's suits, all fifty prototypes were soaring above Stark Tower and -

"Oh my _god_," said Darcy, clapping a hand over her mouth.

"My suits!" shrieked Tony. In five perfect rows, every single suit danced through the air, twirling and leaping, looking both fabulous and slightly comical. With every rise of music, the suits waltzed around them, doing enormous arcs and rising high into the sky before dropping back down.

"Jarvis!" said Tony, looking utterly panicked "Jarvis, what's happening here?" There was no reply from the AI.

"Jarvis, override the code, manual, enter alpha one one five! Jarvis? _Jarvis_!" Tony dove out of the way as the Mark 11 swooned into the arms of the Mark 42.

"_What is happening to my suits?!_" Tony clutched his hair, frantically spinning around to face everyone else. Most of them were trying very hard not to laugh, although Clint and Darcy were in tears, holding each other up, and Natasha seemed very impressed with the Mark 5's pirouette. Pepper had to suck in her cheeks to stop a smile from spreading on her face.

Loki and Louie stood together, both of them smiling innocently, raising her suspicions at once. Tony's genius brain, panicked as it were, caught on equally quickly.

"You," he pointed menacingly at the two culprits, "what did you-"

"Now, Tony," said Pepper, raising her hands consolingly, stepping in front of them. She couldn't help the grin spreading over her face. Tony looked _outraged_. He opened his mouth, swelling up impressively, raising his fist when-

"Hit the deck!" yelled Louie and Tony spun around, his eyes widening.

"Eep," he squeaked. The Mark 42, Tony's baby, his precious and most favorite, had its cannons out and aimed at them all. The cannon glowed blue and white, and Pepper felt a tiny spark of fear. Until, of course, it let loose a magnificent fountain of whipped cream on their heads. Instantaneously, there was a loud trumpeting as the finale of the recital came on, and fireworks lit up in the sky. All the suits launched their cannons and let loose enough whipped cream to cover half the building. The last thing Pepper heard was Tony screaming like a little girl as an enormous wave of cream hit them like a tsunami.

The silence after was eerie. Pepper wiped the delicious topping off her eyes to watch as the fifty suits retract their dessert loaded weaponry as one and make a single file back into the building. She got up, feeling very much like a snowman, to survey the damage. Her housemates were all on the ground, half covered in whipped cream, looking a little less amused than before.

Tony clambered to his feet first, put his hands on his hips and glared threateningly.

"Loki, Louie," he said, his voice deceptively calm, "do you have anything to say for yourselves?" Louie's blue hair was covered in cream and plastered to her body, making her look like a particularly tall Smurf. She thoughtfully wiped a bit of cream off her nose and put in in her mouth.

"The cream's a bit sour," she deadpanned.

* * *

Later, when Pepper managed to soothe Tony's frayed nerves and send him back into the Tower, she ordered him a chamomile tea and set Loki and Louie on cleaning duty. ("And no magic!" she added sternly.) As she herself wiped off the whipping cream and headed into the Tower once more, she saw Louie discreetly give Loki a high five. She went downstairs to change, passing disgruntled teams members and amused ones in the like, and she couldn't quite manage to stop smiling.

Although, once she saw Tony, the grin fell slightly. Not because he was upset, oh no, but because he was chuckling to himself and rubbing his hands in a very Evil Mastermind sort of manner.

Thus began the Prank Wars.

* * *

**Tony POV**

Patience wasn't Tony's strongest quality, but right now he felt the effort would be utterly worth it. Drumming his fingers on the table top he hummed, his eyes skittering around the room. Nat and Pepper were out, so he'd be safe from their wrath if anything went wrong. Most of the others were lolling around in places that kept them out of the way.

If Jarvis was correct, and he always was, the double-L team was on its way into the common room. He gave it two minutes before it happened.

One minute.

Thirty seconds.

There was a loud shriek, and someone stumbled and fell. Tony poked his head out of the door to see Loki and Louie in a tangle of limbs on the floor, pink sludge covering them both. Tony gave them his most winning grin.

"Fake floors and strawberry pudding," he said, smiling. "My new prototype. I'd say it's working pretty well, wouldn't you?" He strolled past the two, taking care to skip over the 3 foot expanse of fake floor. Loki and Louie were still slipping and falling on each other, the occasional "ouch!" being uttered.

"Aww, you two are so cute together," he called over his shoulder. Tony, one, Louie, zero.

"Oh, it's on, Tony." Louie shot back,"It is _on_."

* * *

The next day, Louie had somehow managed up wrangle Darcy into joining her little team of evil plotters and Tony walked into his bedroom to find pictures of a very naked Thor plastered on every inch of the wall and even on the glass windows. He was sure the images would be burned into his retinas for the rest of his life.

The day after, Tony bribed Clint with promises of a brand new bow and they managed to sneak through the air vents and drop baby farm animals into everyone's rooms. Although looking back, Tony wasn't sure whether that was the wisest idea. The Avengers' quarters now smelled like a menagerie.

Team Tall, Dark and Evil responded by ordering two hundred boxes of Pop Tarts (with his money of course) in various flavors and stacking them on every reachable surface inside his lab, leaving Bruce trembling with anxiety and Tony fearing for his science equipment.

And so on and so forth the two teams went, until nobody in Stark Tower could walk into a room before first suspiciously sticking their hand through the door and shaking it aimlessly to ensure nothing would fall on their heads.

A nuisance it may have been to most (Pepper was very close to ripping her hair out) but Tony found himself enjoying the pranks. The bigger the scale, the sillier the outcome, the more enjoyable life was. There was definitely more laughter heard across the Avengers' Quarters during the course of those five days.

But along came Valentine's Day and Captain Spangled cut their pranks short with his shiny vibranium frisbee. Literally. Tony was setting up a spider web (thank you, Peter Parker, you genius little brat) when the red-blue blur came spinning out of nowhere and sliced his pretty little web.

"You," said Steve, folding his arms in a no-nonsense manner. Tony swallowed his insults because being faced by six-foot-something of all American beefcake is a terrifying ordeal.

"Me?" Tony asked innocently, pushing Parker's stolen web shooter thingies under some discarded folders.

"Yeah, you. I know you and Darcy have this little war going on, but I need you to take a break today."

"Why?" complained Tony, "we were just getting started."

"Whatever," Steve rolled his eyes. He really was getting in touch with the new era. "I'm taking Darcy out to the movies, so don't you dare twist her up in those things." Tony would have made fun of Steve right then and there, but the Captain still looked like he might pound Tony into the ground so he filed the information away for future reference. Ah, well, maybe he could put the prank off for just a day. It would give enough time to crack the mechanics of Parker's tech anyway.

He rolled his eyes, though, as if he were making a great sacrifice.

"It pains me to say this, Steve, it does. But since it's your first date in, well, ever, I'll let it pass. Valentine's day though. Cliche much?" To Tony's delight, Steve actually blushed.

"What can I say? I'm an old fashioned guy." Tony snorted in amusement, then snapped his fingers.

"Hey, I got an idea. I could get you reservations at this sweet little restaurant I know of. Don't worry," he added, seeing Steve's dubious look, "it's a really nice place - quiet, laid back." Steve tilted his head and then shrugged.

"Oh, why not? Thanks, Tony."

"Any time, buddy," he replied to Steve's retreating back. He rubbed his hands gleefully, reaching for the web shooter thingies.

"And give Parker back his web spinning gadgets!"

Dammit.

* * *

**Louie POV**

I twirled a lock of blue hair in between my fingers thoughtfully as Darcy exited her closet and gave me a little spin. I sniffed thoughtfully.

"Are you the one who ended up with the chickens in your room?" Darcy shuddered.

"Yep. I'll never forgive Clint for that. I'm still finding feathers in my underwear drawer. Well, what do you think?" she asked, spinning in her outfit once more. I nodded in approval, albeit a little absent mindedly.

"It's a damn shame the pranks are over," said Darcy a little regretfully, "although Steve told me that Tony was planning to string us up from the ceiling so I'm not sure whether I'm grateful or not."

"Oh, it's a pity," I assured her. "We could've released soap bubbles into all his cars."

"I think magic gives us a distinctive advantage," said Darcy with a grin.

"Hey, Tony has a Hawkeye. I'd say the playing field is pretty even."

"Mmhm," said Darcy and threw a sock at me. "Scat," she said "go on, I've a date to meet."

Sticking my tongue out at her I left, making my way to the living room and flinging myself onto a couch. It had been a strange week. The pranks - well, they were what kept me from sinking into a pit of anxiety. Slasher's words were running through my head like a constant, unstoppable, annoying record.

Thor and Jane left to Asgard in the morning, for a few days to spend together. Natasha and Clint had left too, saying they had "reports to file" and nobody wanted a finger taken off so they all nodded and pretended they believed that. Tony was waiting for Pepper in the living room, goatee trimmed to perfection and smelling like something amazing.

"I'm pretty sure the TV did nothing to you, Sunshine, so quite trying to burn a hole through it," he remarked.

"You look dapper as fuck," I commented and sniffed "and, whoa, did you wash your _hair_?"

"Laugh all you want," said Tony churlishly, "but I'll have you know, oil and grease is very good for your hair."

"Mmhm," I said, catching the disbelieving hum from Darcy and passing it on. Tony flung himself onto the sofa beside me, with so much vigor that it tilted backward a bit. It was a mark of my training with the Avengers that I didn't flail about frantically in shock.

"What's up Sunshine?" he asked kindly, "You've been off ever since Mr. Slasher took a nice whiff of you." I gave him the stink-eye.

"Alright," said Tony lightly, "I won't prod." I didn't miss the way his eyes lingered though, worriedly, on my face. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Has it ever occurred to you that maybe it's the holiday that's getting me down?" I lied easily. Tony chose not to answer that.

In a good half an hour or so, the building was devoid of any Avengers or their respective better halves. Even Bruce, who I had thought was a bachelor up to that point had been swept away by a tall, long haired woman who was all curves and smiles. I didn't think I'd seen Bruce smile until I'd seen him with Jo.

I was alone in the house, except for everyone but Jarvis and Loki. I chewed my lip nervously. There was no such thing as an incognito search engine when using Tony Stark's WiFi. In fact, it might make him all the more aware of secret happenings in his tower. So, this would be the most opportune moment to conduct some research without the nosy inventor breathing down my neck.

"Jarvis," I said as I hurried down the hall, "if Loki asks, I'm in my room." There was a little pinging noise as the AI signaled that he had understood.

Once in my room, I shut the door, picked up my laptop and locked myself in the bathroom for good measure. Tony promised he'd removed the cameras from the rooms but one can never be sure.

I perched on the edge of the bathtub and powered up the computer. Once ready and waiting on the Internet, search tab open, I felt at a loss. What was I searching for?

"Okay. Let's start with what I already know."

_Slasher_, I entered, _mutant_. Not very much came up, except for a few news articles about suspects for murder, and a couple of public fights with the group called the X-men. Every time though, the guy disappeared before they could catch him.

"X-men, huh?" I murmured, frowning. I remembered Tony telling be something about the X men, a group of superhero mutants that the Avengers had worked with on occasion.

"What do we have on you?" I murmured. Once again, to my annoyance, it didn't turn out room be much more than news articles and a few fan-made websites. Those websites did have profiles of these superheroes though; a list with a few gritty pictures.

Storm, with the power to control the weather. I'd give a lot to be able to see her go head to head with Thor. There was a Jean Grey, Hank McCoy and of course, the famous Charles Xavier, whose articles, papers and books were referred to by many people. There was a Wolverine, a badass looking fella who kinda reminded me of Slasher himself. I stared at the gritty picture, taken from someone's phone, and felt a shiver run down my spine.

He looked dangerous.

Besides that though, there was nothing. On a whim, I decided to search for any associates Slasher might have. A couple of names came up, but none of them sounded right to me. They couldn't have been my father. I growled in frustration. The internet was too limited. I needed information; actual information. The kind only SHIELD would have. But trying to break into their systems was insane; I wasn't even half as good as Sebastian with a computer.

There was a soft knock on the bathroom door and I jumped. Snapping the laptop close, I opened the door.

Loki was already walking around the room, examining it slowly.

"Nobody else is home," he stated matter-of-factly.

"Nope," I agreed, shaking my head. "Is this the part where you pull out a knife and stab me?"

"Are you scared?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Your attempts at intimidation are getting pretty pathetic," I said tiredly. "Did you want anything?" Loki's face was blank.

"Not particularly, no," he said carefully. I rubbed my eyes and felt a stab of guilt for being so abrupt. I mustered up a winning smile. There was no need to take out my annoyance on the king of teenage angst.

"Come on," I said, "let's make some popcorn and watch a movie."

* * *

**Loki POV**

She hummed.

She hummed far too much.

Louie hummed as she brought in the popcorn. She hummed as she picked out a movie. She hummed as she disappeared for a moment, to return with pillows and blankets, her voice haunting the hallways.

"_My funny valentine_," she sang, spinning in a circle before plopping onto the couch next to him. Loki wrinkled his nose at the buttery smell of the popcorn that wafted towards him.

"This is the kind of this that makes all you humans utterly obese," he said in disgust.

"Cheat day," replied Louie popping a kernel into her mouth. "Jarvis, play _The Titanic_ now, please."

"What is the Titanic?" asked Loki.

"Only the most tragic love story of our time."

"I thought that was Romeo and Juliet."

"You read Romeo and Juliet?" Louie asked astonished, before waving her hand dismissively. "I forgot who I was talking to. Of course you read Romeo and Juliet; you must have swallowed all of Shakespeare by now." Loki shrugged.

"It was there. It was terribly boring, I might add." Louie only elbowed him in the ribs and hissed at him to hush up, the movie was starting.

Loki personally thought it was an utterly pointless movie. Louie though, sat next to him and cried at all the parts that were even remotely sappy and went red and giggled when they star-crossed lovers decided it was a wise idea to do inappropriate things inside a car. Not that Loki hadn't done his fair share of inappropriate things, but he was determined to dislike the move, so he did.

At what Loki prayed was the end, Louie fell awfully quiet. She was almost holding her breath, he realized as water rushed through the ship. When the torture was over and the dimmed lights switched back on, Louie wiped her eyes, grinning.

"That never gets old," she said with a delicious little sigh, stretching like a cat. Loki's eyes fluttered shut briefly. Asgard give him strength.

"It was stupid,"he said cleverly, trying to cover up his moment of idiocy. Louie shook her head, a spark of fire alight in her eyes.

"Was not," she snapped, although her mouth was curving into a grin.

"Was too," he shot back.

"Was not!"

"They could have both fit on that floating piece of wood," snorted Loki. Louie stared at him for a long moment, amused.

"You know, the debate over that little fact has been going on for over a decade."

"Well, no wonder mortals are so beastly. They waste their already short lives on the most insignificant of things." Louie chuckled.

"For argument's sake, let's just stay they couldn't fit on the plank."

"Why would that be?" asked Loki skeptically

"Well," said Louie, "maybe the plank would have sunk, unable to support both their weights."

"Or the director wanted to make the story as ridiculous as Romeo and Juliet," pointed out Loki, "and the stupid woman dropped the necklace back into the ocean. Mortals and their sentiments." He sniffed in contempt. "I'll never let go indeed."

"She let go," said Louie, shaking her head in mock sadness. Loki felt a stab of discomfort at the thought, images of a broken rainbow bridge flooding into his mind.

"If he were a frost giant, he would have survived," he mumbled suddenly.

"A what?" asked Louie with interest.

"Frost giant," he replied. What was it with him and verbal vomit around this girl? "A race of monstrous creatures of the realm of Jotunheim. They're called Jotuns, or frost giants. It is a realm of ice, so the giants are adapted to extremely cold weather."

"That sounds cool," said Louie, nodding. Loki scowled.

"_No_. It is most certainly not _cool_. They are monsters that are sworn enemies of Asgard. They are always ready and waiting to wage war against the Asgardians."

"But why?" asked Louie.

"Has there ever been a valid reason necessary for war?" asked Loki dryly. "The enmity between Asgard an Jotunheim has gone on for centuries. We are brought up to believe they are the monsters under the bed." Louie blinked, going still for a second and Loki felt a flash of discomfort. The girl had, after all, been in his head. Did the phrase mean as much to her as it did to him?

"I see," she said slowly. There was a small pause.

"Have you killed a Jotun?" Louie asked, looking a little squeamish. Loki winced.

"Yes," he said, his tone suddenly biting. "It was, in fact, King Laufey and it happened two years ago."

"Oh." The realisation hit Louie, and her eyes widened to magnificent proportions. Loki folded his arms and said nothing.

"Okay," said Louie, "okay then. Jarvis. Play Austenland."

"Another one?" asked Loki, exasperatedly.

"Oh, but this one is fun," said Louie, and she moved closer, balancing her popcorn on his lap and sidling up to his side.

"I love this movie," she said with a smile. And she really did. She smiled throughout the entire thing, sometimes laughing so hard, Loki had to bite his lip to stop himself from smiling. He was, Loki realised with a sudden rush, enjoying himself. The outcome caused his to freeze up. He'd had fun this past week playing tricks on people in a manner he hadn't since he and Thor were little children.

He was having _fun_. Immense guilt swirled up inside him. He didn't deserve this. He deserved a rotting cell. He wasn't supposed to be sitting here, alone, in a tower, eating terrible, fattening, confectionery items.

"Hey." Louie looked at him, eyes squinting. "I lost you there, for a second." He blinked slowly, letting out along held breath and automatically reached out to tuck a stray curl behind Louie's ear.

"Had a flashback or two?" she asked softly.

"More of a... realization."

"And what's that?" Loki licked his lips and felt Louie stiffen. He ignored the possibilities of that reaction.

"I don't deserve - this -," he vaguely gestured, "All of this - everything. I don't deserve such luxury."

"Oh, Loki," her eyes filled with sympathy, "don't say that." Loki smiled sadly. She didn't understand. Nobody did.

"Come here," she said, standing. She tugged him to his feet.

"What-?" The breath hitched in his throat as Louie enveloped him in a warm hug.

He dwarfed her, physically, although Louie wasn't a short woman, as an Asgardian he was very tall. Yet, he felt tiny in her arms, minuscule in comparison to her warmth. Her hair smelled like citrus and he buried his nose in it, fighting the urge to let his knees buckle and fall completely into her.

How long they stood there that way, he did not know, Austenland playing softly in the background. He didn't care. Vaguely, he wondered if Louie was using her magic to repel bad thoughts because all he could sense right now was her aura, all he could smell was her, see was her, touch was her soft frame. He shuddered, gratitude filling him.

_Thank you for making it stop_.

She hummed once more, shifting so her hands were clasped around his waist and her head was lying in her chest. She kicked off her shoes and actually stood on his bare feet, her soles rough, her toes curling. It was a queer little gesture, childlike, quaint and so trusting he actually felt his throat constrict painfully. She didn't say a word when cool tears fell onto her neck.

Slowly, softly, she began to sing, and Loki felt a sense of peace wash over him.

_My funny valentine,_

_Sweet, comic valentine,_

_You make me smile_

_with my heart,_

_Your looks are laughable,_

_Unphotographable,_

_Yet you're my favorite work of art._

_Is your Figure less than Greek?_

_Is your mouth a little weak?_

_When you open it to speak,_

_Are you smart?_

_But, don't change your hair for me,_

_Not if you care for me,_

_Stay, little valentine,stay,_

_Each day is Valentines day._

* * *

They stood that way, while she hummed over and over and the pinging of the elevator signaled someone had come home.

She released him then, after giving him one final squeeze of reassurance. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"May I," he hesitated, "may I walk you to your room?" Louie's eyes danced in amusement.

"Of course you may." And because he was a gentleman he offered her an arm, which she took. They swept past Tony and Pepper, whom they both teased for being the first ones home because they were getting old. And because he was a gentleman, he stopped outside her door and swept into a low bow, pressing a teasing kiss to her hand. Louie laughed at that.

"Next time," she said, "we can watch Pride and Prejudice."

"Next time?" asked Loki, a warm feeling curling in the bottom of his stomach.

"Oh yeah," she said, "and before I forget -," She beckoned him to stoop down slightly so she could whisper in his ear.

"Is this about the prank on Tony?" he asked, leaning down, "because Rogers will-" Louie pulled him down by the collar and pressed a soft kiss onto his cheek. Loki was ashamed to say his mouth actually fell open. She laughed lightly, the sound sending shivers down his spine. Releasing him, she winked.

"'Night, Mischief," she said with a grin and closed the door behind her.

* * *

**A/N: BOOM. There ya go! **

**ATTENTION: **Some of you may be wondering who "Jo" is, Bruce's date on this night. I have to inform you, **JO IS NOT MY OC. I REPEAT. SHE IS NOT MY OC**. She's the OC in **Archaic Kinds of Fun** by **TheIronBat**, one of my most favourite Avengers fanfics. You should go read it and get to know Jo better. GO. SHOO. I had, for a bit, considered leaving Bruce single on Valentine's night but then again, I didn't want my Brucie so alone on such a night and I felt that it would kind of ruin the atmosphere for Loki and Louie. Isolation was key for making this thing work.

Thus I, with full permsion from her lovely author, borrowed **Jo Holbrook** for those two lines in my story. Because, as I said to TheIronBat, this is fanfiction and I am a fan of her fiction. That being said, know that it is only a small cameo and that I'm not writing this to go along with Jo's story. However, you should read her story, because it is inCREDIBLE. So go find it and give it some love!

Also, the song My Funny Valentine is by Frank Sinatra

And there you have it lovies! I hope you enjoyed that. Please do leave me a review and tell me what you think! Thank youu!

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: Ello there! Okay, filler chapter, but as you know, my fillers always set the scene for what happens later on, so, the devil is in the details my friends. Pay attention! My many thanks to all of you for following this story; it has been over a year now (yeah, I'm only now acknowledging this - I'm the worst), and I feel touched to know there are still people out there who have read this since it first came out. I'll have you know, there's quite a bit left to go, although I'm not sure exactly how many chapters it adds up to. Anyway, replies to reviews down below and after, Chapter 20!**

**Replies to reviews:**

**Queen Martha Pond: **Aw, I'm so so glad you liked the chapter. I thought the last scene was really sweet too. All those little secluded moments those two have together - they're my favourites! Thanks so much for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**Person:** Hi there! Thanks for your review! I love writing this so I'm always happy to hear my readers really do like reading it! I'm pretty sure you'll love all the Loki Louie bits in this chapter as well!

**Guest:** Thanks so much for the review! I'm so sorry the update took so long and I'm delighted to hear that my favorite Loki-Louie scene has hit it off so well with everyone! I hope this chapter full of fluffly goodness will keep you sated until I write out the next chapter, which, hopefully, if everything goes well will be AWESOME. I hope you like!

**Adsdragonlover**: Hi there! Thanks so much for your kind words :) I'm so glad you like it. Here is an update, as soon as I could possibly get it out! Also, I'm pretty sure it's Tony's name that I misspelled - sometimes, I type Tiny instead of Tony. So yeah. Kudos to you for spotting it though, thank you! I'll get around to fixing it as soon as I can. Hopefully we will get to some actual smexy times soon ;) Thanks again for the review, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**lozipozivanillabean**: And thank you for your review! It means a lot to me that you took the time to leave one. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

**Guest**: Thanks so much! I really like the bittersweet scenes, they're a whole lot of fun to write. I hope you like this chapter!

**erinblake18**: Hi there! Well, let me tell you, the reason I started this OC fic is because I felt that although there are some fantastic Loki OC pairings out there, the story was always a little tragic, and not quite a happy ending. In actuality, it is very difficult to give Loki a happy ending without venturing into slight crack-fiction. I adore the realistic stories out there but I wanted something a little silly, a little ridiculous, so I sat down one day and came up with this. And I am truly so happy to know that you enjoy this story. This episode is just a filler, but stick around, I promise the next chapter to be rather a good one. So glad to hear my chapter made your day, thank you! I hope you enjoy chapter 20!

**rosmund** **chadwick**:Hi there! Thanks for your reviews! Lol, I'm glad you caught on to the Finding Nemo reference! Also, I'm so sorry for cutting Loki's hair xD But to me, Loki with short hair is a representation of innocence, which is what I was going for. I made him vulnerable, in a sense. I hope this chapter makes up for my sins xD Enjoy!

**Clementine** **Buttersnaps**: Aw, thank you!The last chapter was in the back burner for so long it started losing its humor in my eyes, and I was actually going to scrap the whole idea! So glad I decided against that - it got a really nice response from everyone! I'm so, so glad you love the story - I loove writing it and faithful readers are what keeps me motivated to do this. I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!

Here ya go everyone! Enjoy! Apologies for the typos everyone. I'm the worst, sigh.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

**Loki POV**

"Well, that didn't go as planned."

That was the first thing Loki heard as he flipped a page of his new novel. He, Natasha and Pepper looked up to see the Avengers trail into the room, all looking significantly worse for the wear.

"Oh God, what happened?" sighed Pepper. Without waiting for a reply, she walked to the first aid kit - every room had one; it was a necessity in the Tower, even for a game of chess.

Tony, who was the one who had spoken flippantly was only half clad in his armor, the rest sparking and crackling and actually hanging of him and dragging on the floor a little bit. Clint had a black eye that was fast turning an alarming shade of purple and was cradling his left arm while the Captain's suit was ripped, charred and smoking slightly. Even Thor was wincing as he walked, leading Louie with a hand pressed against her back because the newest recruit had her face tilted upwards, blood dripping from her nose.

"We almost had him," she said thickly.

Loki snapped his book shut, suddenly irritated.

"Is this Victor Doom really a formidable opponent or are you all just utterly incompetent?" he snapped tightly. Grabbing the kit from Pepper, he pushed Louie down onto a stool. With a few chose words, the bleeding stopped. He gave her a piece of wool to wipe her face.

"We had him," she insisted.

"Yes, yes," he said impatiently, having second thoughts and snatching to wool back. He held her chin in one long, crooked finger and wiped away the blood slowly. Pink seeped into her cheeks and Loki felt a fluttering sensation bubble up inside him. Ever since she had kissed him on the cheek, all he could think about was returning the favor, if only to just wipe her smug smirk off her face. She had one upped him, and she loved it.

Finishing off, he asked, "What happened?"

"Over exertion," I think sighed Louie, "I got a nosebleed." Loki nodded, albeit a little crossly. Little droplets of blood peppered Louie's neck and he gave her a fresh cloth to wipe herself down. He then glared at his brother.

"It was the knee, wasn't it?" he demanded abruptly. Thor nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. Loki swore in old Norse.

"What about his knee?" asked Tony curiously as he attempted to wriggle out of his armor.

"My brother's left knee is weak. It gets dislocated easily. And because he is a stubborn mule, he never rests it like he should, and never lets me heal it completely. Where's Bruce?" Loki asked, changing topics abruptly. Thor was staring at him with That Look on his face, the one that portrayed devastating mounts of nauseating affection

"Sit." Loki ordered, and pushing the God of Thunder onto an armchair, he set about fixing the damaged knee. His eyes swiveled around to Steve.

"Captain, I shall attend to your burns in a moment, but until then could you perhaps assist Tony out of that suit? It looks like it might just electrocute him." Steve nodded and went over to Tony.

"Bruce couldn't get the big guy to calm down," the Captain said by way of answer. "He managed to get into the underground compartment before Hulk went on a rampage. Someone should probably check in on him." Natasha stood and left, assuring the others that she would see to it that Bruce got food and rest. Thor grunted as Loki pulled his leg a little too hard.

"Stop whining," Loki reprimanded. "You would not be in this situation if you had let me fix this ten years ago."

"Would you really have expected me to do that?" Thor asked, his eyes crinkling in amusement. Loki sighed.

"No, I would have first checked whether you had been poisoned. Stupid oaf." The barb had no venom in it though, and Thor laughed. There was some loud clanking and Tony tumbled out of his armor, groaning.

"I can't feel my legs," he gasped, "I can't feel my legs."

Loki motioned for Steve to sit down as well and began patching up the more severe wounds.

"Your body heals at the speed of an Asgardian's," Loki commented. "You will be able to take the bandages off in a few hours or so." Steve nodded his thanks and Loki looked at his final patient a little cautiously. Clint wasn't looking at him, but he wasn't leaving or throwing anything at his head either. Loki took that as a sign of acceptance and set about fixing the archer's arm and eye.

If anyone noticed he used magic until he was grimacing, just so Clint would be completely healed, nobody said a word.

* * *

After this incident, there came a time when Bruce invited Loki to help him in the medical bay, learning how to treat humans without using magic, in case the occasion ever arose that it became necessary. Nobody except Fury complained; even Clint threw in the statement that with their only doctor liable to turn into a giant green rage monster, they would always need the extra help.

* * *

There also came a day when Loki stepped forward and made a suggestion as to where to look for Victor Doom, who was really getting out of hand. The next day, Steve told him to suit up, because he was going with them to catch the criminal. Tony actually offered to reinforce his armor afterwards, when it had proved to be slightly ineffective against Doom. When Loki nodded hesitantly and thanked him, Louie sprinted for her room. Later, Loki saw her emerge, red eyed and spontaneously make Tony chocolate cake.

* * *

There came a day when Clint stormed up to him and demanded the demigod come with him. He took Loki to the cemetery, and marched him past rows and rows of graves from the battle of New York. He took Loki to the memorial that had been erected in the civilians' honor. He shouted at Loki until he was hoarse and crying and actually punched him when Loki brokenly apologized. Loki knew he had changed, because more than anything, he felt that he deserved everything the archer ever threw at him.

* * *

There came a day when Loki made a wisecrack at dinner, and Tony laughed so hard he fell off his chair and Thor thumped him on the back, sending him face planting into his mashed potatoes. At that, the rest of the table cracked up too, and dinner turned into chaos when Loki nonchalantly poured gravy onto Thor's lap, with all the grace of pouring tea.

* * *

There came a day when Pepper taught Loki to make hot chocolate- Louie was having a terrible headache and hadn't left her room all morning. Loki was on the verge of a panic attack when Pepper came to the rescue. She taught Loki how to stir in the right amount of chocolate and cream, and actually applauded him when, as an afterthought, he also brought Louie two aspirins (Bruce had taught him all about the contents of the medicine box mounted in every room).

* * *

There came a time when Loki finally got one over Louie; he kissed her nose and walked away, chuckling as all her notes slithered from her limp hands. After that, it became a game - who could catch the other by surprise the most? Anything counted - a habit, a hobby, a trait, a talent. Jarvis began to keep score. The Avengers found out and began placing bets on who would come out with the most points. The answer varied every day. Of all the surprises though, Loki's favorite was still that soft little kiss, and her stunned look when he strutted away in victory.

* * *

One surprise was when she learnt how to turn her hair back to black on her own, using magic. Another was when she took to changing her hair color using magic when she liked. The colors ranged from Natasha's beautiful copper, to Thor's gold, to even the bottle green of Loki's robes.

* * *

She liked to dance. He did not know this until one lazy night, when after dinner they were all lounging in the common room. An upbeat song came on, and Darcy flew to the empty space in front of the sofas, beckoning to Louie on the way. Grinning, Louie followed, leaving Loki to sit back and stare in amusement as the two began a silly foxtrot across the carpet. Then, to everyone's amazement, Bruce cut in, and everyone clapped and hooted as he swept up Louie gracefully, cutting a path through discarded soda cans and crisp packets.

Later, during one of their lessons, Loki offered to teach her an Asgardian dance, one that Frigga had taught him. She picked it up very well, after half an hour of stumbling and stepping on toes.

* * *

The biggest surprise came though, one particularly difficult week, when the team brought in a sorceress. Exquisitely beautiful, powerful and cunning, they had her interrogated before she was shipped off to SHIELD headquarters. Loki and Tony conducted the interrogation, and the woman almost cast a spell on Tony. Had Loki not been experienced in recognizing the beginning of a spell, Tony would most certainly have been bewitched to unlock the door and let the sorceress walk out.

Later, at dinner, talk turned to the sorceress, and Clint shook his head.

"Too bad she chose the other side. She was pretty good at what she did." Loki inclined his head in agreement.

"Also hot," Clint continued, "very-" There was a quick movement and with a gurgle, Clint's soup bowl decided to violently regurgitate all over the archer's face. Louie sat opposite him innocently, eating with a little more vigor than usual. Loki thought nothing of it just then. Later, he noticed that mention of the sorceress would set her off, making her swear more often and make crude, comical faces. Amusing as it was to the others, it niggled Loki's thoughts.

He came to the conclusion that Louie was jealous of the woman's power, yet this assumption worried him. It was not like Louie to be so petty.

He found the real reason completely by accident. They had taken to holding their lessons in her room, and halfway through an incantation, Loki had heard a tiny snore. She had fallen asleep, curled on her side like a child. Loki smiled slightly and lifted her, stretching her out on the bed. Immediately, she frowned, muttering under her breath. Loki thought nothing of it, quietly flipping the pages of his book, until a slight whimper made him look up in alarm.

She was asleep, on her stomach, breathing harshly. Loki watched her for a minute, and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, settled more comfortably into the pillows, his eyes glancing to her once in a while. He almost missed it, but Louie shifted slightly so the tear making its way down her cheek was caught in the light.

"Louie?" he asked softly. She frowned in her sleep and shifted slightly, her mouth slightly opening. Loki reached for her consciousness with his own. It was wrong to enter her mind, her dreams without permission, but if it was upsetting her, he had to know what it was. There was a moment of darkness, and then a burst of color. Then, he was in her dream. He stood in a vast nothingness, the surroundings blurring in an out of focus. The only thing in focus was a tall, familiar man, dressed casually in Asgardian robes.

It was him, he realized. He felt a pleasant jolt at realizing she was dreaming of him. But where was she? A few feet away, the second thing that had sharp, defined edges, was staring at Dream Loki. Instead of Louie, however, it was a young girl of fourteen, but she held in her gaze that same wistful expression that Loki had seen many a time before. It was Louie; younger, with no curves to speak of and large, square glasses on her nose. She blinked at Dream Loki owlishly for a moment. Dream Loki stared back, his eyebrow raised in a skeptical expression. Then, a taller woman walked straight through Louie, grabbing Dream Loki and pulling him into a passionate kiss. Loki spun round to see what young Louie thought of this, to see an odd expression in her eyes. Loki frowned, watching closely. What was that expression?

Jealousy?

Pain?

No. Defeat. It was defeat. Dream Loki was morphing, and like a picture on the television screen, his image flickered. He was now a tall man with brown hair, a skinny boy, with blonde curls, a man who had inky black hair like his, and it was him again. A cycle. A cycle of the people she had ever loved? He wondered and felt jealousy pooling in his stomach. The woman disappeared and Dream Loki flickered even more, changing faster and faster. The faces differed now, ranging from his, to all the Avengers, to Pepper, Darcy, Jane, and many more, people she had met and loved and lost. They began changing so fast they blurred together swiftly and slowly, a new face began to emerge. Loki squinted, trying to make out the hazy face. Before he could however, there was a chilling growl, so cruel and horrific that he wrenched free of the dream, so hard that Louie let out a cry and jolted awake.

"What?" she asked, eyes wide and panicked, looking around frantically, "what is it? What happened? Are you hurt?"

Loki felt immeasurably angry, and he didn't quite know why.

"No. No. You fell asleep. I was about to leave."

"I see," Louie breathed, rubbing a hand over her face.

"Good night," he said briskly, passing a hand over her hair gently. Louie nodded and leaned back, closing her eyes, leaving Loki to ponder exactly what he had seen.

* * *

"So when is your birthday, then?" she asked. Loki contemplated it and wrinkled his nose. They sat, backs against the wall on the enormous balcony of Stark Tower, the night air cool on their bodies, the wind picking up tendrils of ebony hair.

"I have more of a... found-day than a birthday."

"Well," said Louie, "that sucks." Loki raised an eyebrow.

"It does?"

"Well, yeah," said Louie, "birthdays are amazing days. You get to eat whatever the heck you want, you get a cake and you get presents."

"Mm, it sounds like an excuse for a feast, to be honest," said Loki noncommittally.

"It is," laughed Louie, "which is why I'm shocked Asgardians don't celebrate it."

"Oh, we celebrate important name days, on occasion. Think of the expenses of doing it annually," tutted Loki, "Honor, and other such nonsense would make it vital for every lord and lady to have their birthdays remembered and celebrated. The food stores would deplete in half a decade. Besides, a year is nothing when you live long enough to be five thousand."

"You suck the fun out of everything, you know that?" said Louie, sidling up next to him all the same. "A pocket full of sunshine, you are." Loki laughed and Louie looked pleased.

"You should laugh more often," she said. He had no reply to that except to snap his mouth shut and glower playfully at her. "Okay, so pick one." Her fingers danced a tune on her knee.

"Pick one what?" he asked, distracted by the nimble digits.

"A birthday," she replied. "There are over three hundred days a year to pick from. Pick one."

"Whatever for?" Louie smiled.

"Just because you can, Loki."

"That makes absolutely no sense," he huffed.

"Doesn't it? Everyone else has to own the birthday they're given. You, you get to pick the day you can be pampered and treated special." Loki rolled his eyes in good-humored nature. Louie's views on the world were things he would never be able to comprehend. All the same, he picked a day.

He picked the day he had met her first.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, I know, it was really short, forgive me. I'll make up for it in the next chapter. At this point, I hope you understand, what happens is that time passes, and even the coldest and most unforgiving of Avengers are warming up to Loki. Also, what in the world is up with Louie and her dreams? Who is she dreaming about?

Y'all are smart, and I'm not exactly subtle. You'll figure it out.

Until next time my lovelies,

Much love,

xo


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Note: **OKAY I'M A JERK WHO NEVER UPDATES I KNOW, I'M SORRY, WAH. I love you all and thank you for your everlasting patience and your kind words. This chapter is dedicated to all my lovely reviewers, for keeping me going and to **TheIronBat** for being my motivation, and spurring me into releasing this chapter today. Again, I do apologise for the delay, and, since it is the 14th somewhere in the world today, HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Replies to reviews:

**Guest**: Thank you! Haha, yes, all the feels are happening! I hope you are still following and enjoying the story, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review! I really appreciate it.

**erinblake18**: I do so love delivering a bit of a feels attack with my last lines! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one too! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review. I also do apologize for the long, long wait in between chapters.

**Queen Martha Pond**: Perhaps one day I shall write about the chess game that warranted a first-aid kit! I hear it was a bit of a bloodbath. Chess can be quite the violent sport. Yes, people are warming up to him! It's about damn time, I should say. He does deserve to be loved, which is one of the biggest themes revolving this story, and what I hope to achieve by the end of it. Thanks so much for the review; I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

**Adsdragonlover**: Very good! She was dreaming about the sorceress at first, and then, all of a sudden, that insecurity and jealousy transformed into something a little sadder, and she was watching a lot of important people in her life walk away from her... Louie kinda hates her old fashioned name, actually, but when Loki says it, she thinks she kind of loves it, because its totally sexy ;) Thanks so much for your review! I hope the wait for this chapter was worth it!

**Person**: I'm so glad you loved the last chapter! Yes, it's a very slow burn, but hey, they're getting there! (hint, hint) Thanks ever so much for your review, and I hope you love this chapter toooo!

**PhantomLion**: Aw, I'm glad you liked the bit about the birthday, it was so adorable. I actually thought it up a long, long while ago and it was so cute I just HAD to include it in the storyline somehow! I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!

**TheIronBat**: Well, here it is! (Finally, an update, am I right?) Aw, thank you so much, I'm so happy you like the chapter. It makes me super happy to see that you have reviewed because you say the nicest things! Yeah, it was an intense attack of the feels, that chapter. It has gone down well with the readers though, so that's wonderful. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well, because I have a good feeling about it, considering the little hiatus I took. Enjoy, and, as always, thank you ever so much for the review!

**Minc**: Hello there, friend! As you have requested, here is an update! (Very late, I know, I am sorry). But nevertheless, I hope you enjoy!

**Guest**: Hey there, thanks for the review! I am so glad you love the story, it makes me so happy to hear that. I do apologise for the delay in updating, but I hope this chapter and all its goodness makes up for that! Enjoy!

**The Redshirt who Lived**: So much fluff, I know! I hope you enjoyed that last chapter and I hope you enjoy the next one too! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review!

**Yago**: Hello there! I'm so so glad to hear you enjoy the story and I do apologise for not updating sooner. Don't apologise at all for being pushy, I like it when my readers are pushy, haha! I love writing the two of them together and I so hope that you will enjoy this next chapter as much as you enjoyed the last one! Unfortunately Spiderman will not be making a huge appearance in this story, although I do have a few ideas for Spiderman/Avengers stories. Oooh, what an interesting question. Will they have a kid who travels back in time in order to stop an Apocalyptic future which Thanos, gains the power of Phoenix in order to rule the universe? Or won't they? Perhaps if you read on, you shall know ;) Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too!

AND NOW, ON WITH THE SHOW! I own nothing except Louie and the Typos.

* * *

**Louie POV**

"You know what makes me mad?" I asked conversationally. Bruce indulged my rambling by sending a tiny shake of the head my way.

"I'll tell you what makes me mad," I continued, flipping a page of my novel. "It's the information censoring that goes on because of SHIELD." That got his attention. The doctor looked up, amusement in his chocolate brown eyes. I eyed the bottle of aspirin on the counter. The headaches were really coming on strong these days.

"What information might that be?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Mutants," I replied shortly.

"Mutants are washed from the internet for their own protection. Any data on the internet about mutants that might be harmful to their safety is erased by mutants themselves," said Bruce, putting down the notes in his hand and walking over. He sat next to me, and as usual, his presence calmed me. Something about Bruce was always perfectly balanced, like the still surface of a pond, the leaves swaying in the lightest of breezes. "Is this about Slasher?"

"Why does everyone automatically assume that?" I groaned.

"That's not an answer," the doctor pointed out. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Okay, maybe it is about Slasher," I admitted, "There's something he said that I can't get out of my mind."

"What did he say?" I frowned, and opened my mouth to reply when Steve's voice came over the intercom.

"_Avengers, we have a situation. Suit up._"

"After," Bruce said as a promise, a warning, "Tell me after." I nodded as we hurried into the elevator. There, we met Thor and Loki, who were standing inches apart, an angry scowl on Loki's face and a pained one on Thor's. When Bruce and I entered, Loki stepped away, crossing his arms tightly and huddling against the wall. Bruce eyed the two of them and retreated to the very corner of the metal box, leaving me standing in between the two brothers. The rest of the Avengers filed in, sensed the tension and immediately backed up against the walls alongside Bruce. Fucking cowards. I pinched the bridge of my nose, cursing my aching head.

"Alright," I glared at the demigods, "what happened?" Thor jumped in before Loki could say anything.

"It was my fault," he admitted, "I was pointing out how Loki should not be out fighting considering the lack of magical prowess he has at his disposal. Loki thought I was implying he was weak. I was merely looking out for my brother, because I didn't want him hurt." The god of thunder added the last bit with a tinge of annoyance in his deep voice.

"I don't need you to-," Loki spat and I growled. The trickster broke off and eyed me in surprise.

"He loves you, and he has a right to be worried," I said to Loki. His aura bristled, and I felt a sumo-sized bout of migraine coming along. I held up a hand.

"No, I don't want to hear it. Thor just doesn't want to lose you again and frankly, neither do I. This is why you don't fight without me around. He loves you, I love you, and now, please, will you two just _get along_?" I asked tiredly. My head really, really hurt.

There was a beat of silence before someone drew in a long, shaky breath.

"What?" I asked, turning and glaring at Tony, who was going red in the face, eyes ready to pop out of his head.

"Oh my God," he said, looking at me, Loki and back at everyone else, "You just – _oh my_-,"

The elevator dinged on the very next floor and Clint and Natasha grabbed the billionaire by the arms and dragged him out.

"Wait, where are you going?" I asked, confused, "Guys? We're still on the twentieth floor!" Was it something I said? To my surprise, even Thor exited, giving Loki a tiny push back into the metal box as he made to follow his brother out.

"Perhaps you should sort this out before we go," said Thor softly, a grin threatening to split his face in two.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded, "Thor? Thor!" The doors slid shut on us. I rubbed my temple impatiently, reaching for the button to open the doors again. Quick as lightning, Loki pressed his fingers into the emergency stop and before I knew it, he had backed me up against the wall.

"God fucking _dammit_, Loki, you startled me," I hissed, now uncomfortably aware of him towering over me. I met his eyes once before I looked away, feeling heat creep up my face. His gaze was so _intense, _his mouth was open, and he was drawing sharp breaths. That certainly made my imagination run riot.

"Was it something I said?" I muttered, racking my brain, "What did I say?"

"You said," he started, "you – you said -"

I said – what? I said I – oh. _Oh_.

"Oh," I squeaked intelligently. I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed. _Thor loves you, I love you, Thor loves you, I love you, Thor loves you, I love you, I love you, I love you-_

"Well - yeah, so what?" I said defiantly, meeting his eyes. "It's true, so you should just stop acting like a big baby -"

Loki exhaled a short, angry breath, and kissed me full on the mouth.

Everything came to a standstill. Everything. Because Loki was kissing me, a determined press of the lips against mine. It was like the rest of him, his mouth; cool, but warming up as he stole my heat. It was nice, sweet, and lovely. And then, he tilted his head, to kiss me better and suddenly it wasn't chaste, it was a whirlwind of sensations because he made this amazing little grunting noise and fucking _moulded_ himself against me, body and mind, my hands pinned between my chest and his, his fingers tangled in my hair, pulling my face upward to meet his mouth. The sounds he was making were fucking incredible and he was moving against me in ways that made me think _bed, bed, bed, NOW_, because when Loki kissed, he didn't just kiss with his mouth, he kissed with his entire body rolling and pushing, and it was all I could do not to grind back into him. I might have moaned a little. Or more than a little.

And he groaned _right_ – _fucking_ \- _back_. My hands twisted free and they buried themselves in his hair, and suddenly his battle armour was a fucking pain in my ass and he was making those amazing little noises again, he was sucking on my bottom lip, he was tracing incantations on the inside of my mouth with his tongue, he was making those _noises, Oh_ –

" –_my God!_" Loki jumped, breaking off, and I whimpered in annoyance and glared at the intruder.

Darcy stood at the open doors, jaw hanging open.

"Tony sent me to get you," she said weakly, "and Jarvis overrode the emergency stop button."

Tony, I thought a little dazedly, was a sneaky son of a bitch that was going to pay because Loki looked like sex on legs and we stopped just when it was getting good. Loki barked out a short laugh, and I grinned sheepishly.

"If your thoughts were any louder, I'd be deaf," he murmured. He wasn't looking at Darcy at all, I noticed, and that made me grin a lot more than was necessary.

"We'd better get going," I muttered, smoothing a hand over my hair.

"Happy superhero-ing," replied Darcy, now unable to stop grinning. I flipped her off as the doors slid shut once more.

* * *

**Loki POV**

"I know what you did," said Iron Man in a singsong voice as they flew out over New York City. The Quinjet hummed in the sky as it sped along, Natasha driving masterfully at the helm. Loki chose to ignore the billionaire's teasing. Louie had the grace to blush, although a small grin was trying hard to break through her blank expression.

"What did they do?" asked Steve curiously. He looked from Tony's leering gaze to Loki and Louie and blanched.

"Never mind," he said quickly, "I don't want to know."

"What is the emergency?" Loki asked, by way of changing the subject.

"We had a confirmation on Slasher's location," said Clint, re-stocking his arrows. Louie stilled.

"You had a BOLO out on Slasher? All this time?" she demanded, whirling around to face Tony. Tony crossed his arms and exchanged a glance with Steve. It was the kind of glance Loki was well accustomed to seeing on Frigga and Odin's faces when he or Thor had been in the dark about certain happenings in the land. Like that one time Mother had thought they were too promiscuous and had wanted Odin to have a Talk with the princes. He shuddered at the painfully awkward memories.

"You've been on edge about Slasher for weeks now," Tony said, eyes narrowing, "we didn't tell you because we knew you'd react the way you're reacting right now." Louie glared at Tony for a long while. Finally, she dropped into the nearest seat and leaned back, eyes firmly on the passing clouds.

"Louie," began Tony with a sigh.

"We're touching down in five, everyone," said Natasha. Loki seated himself next to Louie, flexing his fingers, preparing himself for taking in Louie's magic. She looked pained, and Loki could tell the girl was struggling to get rid of her headache. Tentatively, he put his hand on her head, stroking her hair and he could visibly see the tension drain from her shoulders. She patted his knee, a sign of thanks.

* * *

**Tony POV**

Tony really, _really_ hated this Slasher guy. Only two minutes into the confrontation, the guy attacked, and what did he go for first? Tony's shiny new suit, that's what. Now, the paint was scratched and that made Tony mad. And, the asshole took out all his anger on a small town, which was always a low blow. Manhattan had the resistance of a rubber ball but not most towns had the equal ability to get back on their feet once an attack took place. _And_ the asshole brought backup, so there was gunfire all around.

"Tony, what the _hell_ are you doing? Move!"

Tony swooped out of the way as a car was flung in his direction. In retaliation, a giant disk of earth went spinning into the mutant. Tony fell back, feeling a spurt of pride as Loki and Louie worked together in a spar with Slasher.

Maybe that's why he didn't notice exact moment the mutant found an opening, and Loki and Louie split apart, putting several feet in between each other.

_Shit_. Tony looked around frantically. Loki was unprotected, and Slasher seemed to know just that. With a roar, the mutant attacked, his finger-claws aiming for Loki's throat.

"Back," muttered Tony as he fired a blast from his cannon. "Jarvis, how are we looking?" Slasher went off course, giving Loki time to scramble backwards.

"It's a tight corner, Sir," replied the AI, "the other men's presence leads me to believe Levine Quincy is in the vicinity." Damn, if that was the case, then Loki needed to get out.

"Thor," Tony spoke into his comm., "Quincy might me around, and he's a teleporter. He'll be out for Loki."

"Yes, I would think so," said Thor, as he threw a few punches.

"Stop talking about me like I'm not listening in on this," snapped Loki, edging around Slasher and ducking his swinging limbs. His daggers were in his hands but Tony wasn't sure how he felt about two knives against the hulking man. Speaking of Hulks, the big guy was entangled with the octopus man, and neither of them looked very happy about it.

"Enough of this," said Slasher, and made an enormous cut to Loki's right. With a lurch, Tony caught on to the feint too late. He barely had time to shout out a warning when Slasher kicked the god in the head, sending him crashing to the ground, unconscious. A wave of soldiers descended on the Avengers from nowhere, shouts, screams and battle cries filling the air. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Louie trying to fight her way to Loki, and he made sure he kept the trickster god in his line of sight. Slasher bent to pick up the prone demigod, who looked paler than usual, almost blue.

Wait.

Tony flew higher into the air, dodging bullets. Was he hallucinating or was Loki actually turning blue?

"Is Loki-?"

So he wasn't seeing things. Slasher didn't seem to notice just yet, but Loki's skin was now a brilliant, icy blue. His eyes opened and Tony felt his stomach lurch at the red slits. That was some Voldemort shit right there.

Quicker than the powerless demigod should have been able to move, Loki was out of the mutants grip and delivering a solid punch to Slasher's stomach. Tony had seen this form, just once before, on the day Louie had come into his life. It was a fascinating transformation, and the scientist in Tony was reminded of how he had wanted to run some tests on Loki when he first saw this change. Loki stumbled slightly, and Tony blasted a few soldiers out of the way before swooping in to rescue him.

"Sir, it would be best if you did not touch him," said Jarvis, "his body temperature is far too cold for even the suit to withstand."

"Well, shit," snapped Tony, and placed himself between Slasher and the now blue demigod, "Lokes, how can I save you when I can't even touch you?"

"I apologize," said Loki, "I am not used to this form." The demigod did look rather shaky on his feet.

Tony aimed a metal arm at Slasher. "I wouldn't run if I were you, buddy," he warned. All he got in reply was a snarling grin.

"Hands where I can see 'em," said Tony, more than slightly wary. Slasher raised his hands above his head, his eyes still flickering to Loki meanly. "Cap, we got him cornered."

"Brilliant," grunted Steve, "now ask him to ask his men to stand down."

"Ask your men to stand down," Tony dutifully relayed.

"They aren't my men," said Slasher, "I can't ask them to do anything."

"Quite right," came a second voice. Tony sighed tiredly. Levine Quincy. The man himself had appeared on their right, so they stood making the three corners to an oddly shaped triangle - Slasher, The Avengers and Quincy. The rest of the fighting was dying down as Cap and the rest of the team brought them to ground.

"Jar, I hate it when you're right."

"Don't let him get anywhere near Slasher," said Louie, magic flickering at her fingertips as she walked towards Loki. "He'll teleport them away."

She made it to Loki, standing in front of him protectively. Loki kept his eyes firmly away from the girl. Slasher grinned even wider.

"You again," he said, his eyes gleaming manically, "I have been wanting to talk to you." Louie walked forward, her eyes focused solely on the mutant.

"Funny, so have I," she said. Tony hissed with worry as she walked out in front of him, not only out of his protection, but straight into his line of fire. If Slasher attacked Louie head on, he wouldn't be able to get a clear shot.

"I take it this guy hires you, then?" Tony was so tense he could feel himself shaking inside his suit. What was Louie playing at? They needed to apprehend these criminals, not chat with them. Slasher nodded. Louie made a little gesture of understanding.

"I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to talk to you," she said. Behind him, Tony could hear Loki almost whimper in frustration.

"You okay, Loki?" Tony asked quietly.

"She's barring me from her head," he whispered back. "Why is she barring me from her head?" Tony was going to develop a crick in his neck from trying to keep Loki, Slasher and Quincy in his line of vision. He needed a third eye for backup. Louie was still talking to the man in front of them.

"How about you come with us and you and I can have a nice little chat?" said Louie, "we both seem to have someone in common to talk about."

What? Tony blinked. Did he hear that right? Forgetting all about Quincy, he swivelled around to meet Loki's equally confused gaze.

"Well, I guess it would be nice to talk about him," Slasher agreed, "a nice little uncle-niece chat."

Louie stilled.

Tony stilled.

He was sure everyone else stilled as well.

"What did you say?" Slasher's eyes narrowed, in a queer, vindictive delight.

"You don't know who he is," he growled, "You don't know _what_ he is."

"Who is he?" Louie was shaking, the wind was picking up, and Loki was moving past Tony.

Tony didn't know how exactly it happened but one second he was throwing an arm out to stop Loki and then next, he was flying backwards with a two-hundred-and-something pound snarling mutant on his chest and Louie was screaming, "_No! TELL ME!"_

* * *

**Louie POV**

How dare he touch these people, _my_ people? How dare he say things to taunt me? No. _NO_.

Suddenly, the world was moving slower, and I could see as Quincy disappeared and reappeared at Loki's side. Not again. He wasn't going to touch him. Quincy wasn't going to even look at Loki ever again, not if I had anything to say about it.

I don't know how I did it, but one minute I was standing several feet away and the next, I was up in Quincy's face.

_You don't get to touch him, asshat_. Quincy seemed scared, and that made me happy. Good. He should be scared. He should be terrified.

_Nobody touches Loki again. _

Quincy was nodding, and struggling and it was sort of pathetic to watch. There was a loud ringing in my ears. Too loud. It would get annoying very fast.

Fingers were wrapped around Quincy's throat, and I stared at them for a second, frowning and then I realised they were my fingers wrapped around his neck. I was choking him. And for some reason he couldn't teleport himself away. And I couldn't bring myself to let go. The way he was struggling, limply, it was fascinating to watch. I didn't quite care for more than the way in which the cells of his skin were changing color, simply because I was holding him tight enough. There was a prick on pain in my side and I batted the annoyance away.

Quincy was also going blue. Was everyone going to turn into frost giants today? At the thought of frost giants I remembered Loki again. I turned, eyes peeled for him. Why was everything so ridiculously bright? Staring at the world was like looking at the sun, just white, white, white, everywhere. I could almost see him, I think.

Then, I saw _him_ again. Slasher. And suddenly, I was very, very angry again.

_You_.

How dare he tell me lies?

_Fucking lies_.

But he knew my father. That wasn't a lie, was it?

_So, tell me. Tell me who he is_. I was right up in Slasher's face, and I had no idea how I got there. I couldn't bring myself to care.

_Who is he? _

I need to know.

Those claws were out and they were ripping and slashing –_hah, slashing!_ – but I could hardly care less. My entire body felt light and like it was burning at the same time, and yet, here I was, pinning this giant of a man against a tree with a single hand. Oh, and look, he was turning purple too.

The ringing in my ears was loud, so very loud. There was a faint roaring too, like waves rising up and crashing against rocks.

Was he answering me? I couldn't hear him over the rush of the waves. And it was getting harder to see him too, because black spots were beginning to dance in front of my eyes. I didn't like it anymore. I didn't like it. Where was Loki? Or Tony? Or Bruce? I wanted Bruce now, or Hulk. Everything was too loud, too hurtful.

And then I was being pulled away, and green was filling my vision – big, beautiful, green shoulders and green eyes and a sturdy, green chin. Hulk was here. He was beautiful, all that green. Green just might be my favourite colour because there was so much of it, just on that little patch of shoulder that Hulk was holding me against. The roaring was dying down, and I could now here Hulk saying my name, in his low rumble.

_I hear you, big guy. I hear you. _The roaring and ringing were gone. The black spots were disappearing.

"What happened, big guy?" I asked softly, "I think adrenaline got to me for a second."

Hulk looked at me, his eyes shimmering in that childlike manner.

I struggled out of his arms and shook my head. Everything swayed, and came back into focus. I blinked, taking in everything around me. The fight seemed to have died down so that was good. My head felt hot, and so did my neck and my side. Looking down, I could see little cuts on them, not very shallow at all, just big enough to sting. I leaned against Hulk tiredly, looking around for the rest of the team.

Slasher and Quincy were being handcuffed by Cap, and Thor was tending to Loki, who was back in his marble-beautiful skin. Although, I had inkling the blue skin was just as beautiful. It had seemed that way just a few minutes ago; although I was hard-pressed to figure out what the hell went down.

What was I even thinking? I walked over to where Steve was standing. He was looking at me warily and then back at Quincy. I followed his gaze and my stomach did a horrible flip-flop. Quincy's skin looked terribly scorched, like he'd held it directly under a burning fire.

I took a step back. The last person that had touched him was-

"Was that – did I –?" Cap nodded, his blue eyes looking so worried. I raised a shaking hand to my mouth, feeling more than slightly ill.

"I didn't mean to –," I rasped, "Steve, I –"

"I'm impressed, Kitten, I am," interrupted Slasher, his eyes still holding that maniacal gleam. "That was some talent. Your Daddy –"

"You shut the fuck up, right now," I said coldly, my eyes closing in shame, "I am nothing like my father –"

"And you would know?" he countered. "You don't even know who he _is_." I glared at him balefully.

"And you do?" I snapped.

"Kitten," he replied, "I spent so much time with that man, by his side, eating with him, _killing_ with him. Of course I know who he is." My ears were ringing again. Steve was watching this exchange happen in silence. So were the others, I could tell. My ears burned with shame.

"My father was not a killer," I whispered, "An asshole, who left me when I was a kid, yeah, but he was not a killer, so don't you lie to me!"

"Louie," Tony said quietly, "calm down."

I inhaled shakily. Calm down. I was calm. I was calm.

"My father," I said quietly, "was not a killer. Unlike you, you psychopath. So, you can take your goddamn lies and shove them –"

There was a sudden, burning pain and I was slammed into a tree.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki was shaking. He was downright shaking, and not because Quincy and the prospect of meeting Thanos were lurking in the possible near future, but because of what he had just witnessed. The lull after the end of this battle was the most fearful one yet, because when Louie's aura burst into a brilliant white, engulfing her and her fingers squeezed Levine Quincy's neck, she hadn't even flinched. She lifted the mutant off the ground with a single hand, and when she spoke, her voice was empty and hollow and echoing, and it was the single most terrifying thing Loki had heard in his entire life. Quincy was attacking her with a blade, but she flung it away so hard it lodged into a branch, sinking in a good five inches.

"Louie," said the Captain. "That's enough. Put him down." But Louie didn't even turn at the sound of their voices.

"She cannot hear you. Louie," Loki tried. He transformed back into his Asgardian form and swayed on the spot. He was grateful when his brother caught him.

"What is the matter with her?" Thor asked. Loki shook his head. He didn't know. And he was still shaking. Suddenly, the girl was looking around. For a moment, her eyes met his and they flashed a warm brown, but before a miniscule prick of relief could even run through him, they flashed white again and she had disappeared.

There were several gasps over Loki's intercom.

"_How -?" _

"I do not know," he half-snarled, spinning around. There she was, holding Slasher in the air the exact same way she had done to Quincy. There was an awful smell of burning flesh.

"She's going to kill him," said Natasha, he voice sounding huskier than usual. "Somebody, stop her."

"Do not touch her," said Loki. "She can burn your skin off." There was a roar of frustration, and Loki saw the green giant approach Louie.

"Hulk, _no_," said Captain America. Hulk looked over, and green eyes met blue in defiance. Slowly, he gripped the young woman around the waist, and pulled. For a moment, Loki felt that she would not budge, but she let the mutant go, instead raising her palm to Hulk's cheek. Her entire body was not glowing white anymore; instead, she seemed to be fading. Slowly, Louie rested her cheek against Hulk's shoulder.

There was a collective sigh of relief.

"Okay, team," said the Captain quietly. "Let's wrap this up." Loki closed his eyes in exhaustion. There was going to be a long, long meeting the minute they touched down back home.

"You are wounded, Loki," said Thor. Loki glanced at his arm.

"I suppose I am," he said numbly. He let his brother take care of him, his eyes following Louie as she approached Slasher once more. The Captain very subtly tensed as she approached.

Tony touched down behind her, face plate off and arms ready to hold the girl back. There were a few murmured words, and Louie stumbled back a little; eyes wide and horrified.

"Did I –?"

"She did not know she was doing it," murmured Thor. Loki nodded. It surely seemed that way. But that left them with the painful question - what exactly was it that made Louie go on a terrifying rampage as such?

She stood toe to toe with the mutant again and Loki had a nasty feeling something was about to go terribly terrible wrong. She was saying something, and Loki was already moving towards them when Slasher snapped.

Loki felt all the air escape his lungs, and the world stilled around him. He lurched forward, his mind blank with shock. Time slowed down as there was a flash of yellow-white, a sickening sound of muscle tearing and a crunch.

"I should have known he'd never keep it in his pants long enough. He was always the fucking romantic. But _you_, girl, need to show me some _respect_!" said Slasher.

"No!" roared Thor, Steve, Tony and even Natasha. The entire team converged on the mutant, guns blazing and pulling him away, but it was too late. Louie's eyes were wide with surprise, and her mouth was open in a surprised little 'O' as it had been since the moment Slasher had impaled her, pinned her quite literally onto the tree, with his claws. As he was pulled away and knocked unconscious, Louie fell to the ground, and the trickle of blood falling from her mouth was nothing in comparison to the gaping, gushing holes in her stomach.

* * *

**A/N**: *coughs guiltily* Happy Valentine's day?

Do leave a review if you liked it, my lovelies,

Until next time,

Much love,

xo


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Note: **I have no excuse. I am so sorry for how late I am. Thank you, to ALL my readers for their love for this story and their patience!

Replies to reviews:

**TheIronBat**: FINALLY, HERE IT IS. I am so so sooo sorry for the delay, but I hope the wait is worth it. I HAVE GOT BACK MY MOJO, AND HOLY CRAP I FEEL GREAT. I am so glad you liked the last chapter - it was definitely one of my favourites to write! The sexytimes thooo! That was rather a lot of fun to write haha! And I did watch Deadpool and it was great! One of the best movies I've ever watched! Thanks so much for your neverending support and patience - I do hope you like this next chapter too. We're so close to the finish line!

**PhantomLion**: I'M SORRY, I AM SO LATE! FORGIVE ME! Thank you soo much for your kind words and for patiently following this story. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

**aqua-empress:** omg, your majesty, I apologise for the delay. Please, take this update as an offering of my apologies, and as a request for your mercy. Lol, I hope you like this chapter, and thanks for the Not-Review!

**Queen Martha Pond**: Apologies for the long wait! I hope you're still around and willing to read this little fic. Thank you soo much for the review and your kind words, AND your patience! I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well!

**MissMemory**: Thanks, Memory! I hope you like this next chapter too, and apologies for the long wait!

**Yago**: Thank you so much for ALL the reviews! You spurred me to get on with it haha! I do apologise for the absurdly long wait and hope you enjoy this next chapter!

**AvengersForever**: Thanks so much for the review, and your interesting speculations! I'll definitely keep them in mind for future ideas ;) I hope you like this chapter!

**Person**: Thank you for the reviews! Im so glad you liked the last chapter, and to hear you reread the entire thing, and I hope you like the next one too!

**HulkFan1**: Hmm, that's an interesting theory I will keep in mind, thank you! I hope you're still around and will enjoy reading this next chapter!

**GuessWho**: Thanks so much for the reviews! Apologies for the long wait, but here it is, the next chapter! I do hope you enoy!

**Fiera Evenstar**: Thanks so much for your reviews! I hope you enjoy this next chapter as well xx

**Rockabillie123**: Thanks so much for the love! I am so sorry for the huge wait but here I am, with another chapter that I hope you will enjoy!

**stonecoldswanlove**: I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY, HERE, HAVE THIS CHAPTER AND COOKIES TOO, MY POOR DARLING, I HAVEN'T ABANDONED YOU! Lol, I hope you like this one!

**Bex Lee**: I'm the worst, I know. So sorry for the long wait, but here you go! Enjoy!

**OtakuWhovian1224**: *peers from behind a tree* I'm here. Pls don't kill me. I hope you like this chapter, and thank you so much for your patience!

**The River of Hope**: haha, thanks for the review, and I hope this next chapter makes up for the long wait!xx

****To all the 'Guest' reviewers****: There were so many of you this time I didn't know how to distinguish between you all! I just want to say thank you so much for the neverending support and I DO apologise for the long wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 22**

**Louie POV**

It was dark, very dark, and my stomach felt like it was on fire. There were voices, faint, then loud, then faint again, fading in and out, echoing inside my head, and the fire just was not stopping.

_Make it stop_, I whimpered. _It hurts_. Everything hurt, and I didn't remember who I was, or what happened to me.

Nothing made any sense.

Then, the burning sensation was changing, it was dying down, and I was shivering at the cold. The cold was a blessing because it was making me forget – everything had receded into a blank nothingness.

The cold was on my face, on my stomach, against my shoulder. And I was too tired to do anything except float away into the nothingness.

* * *

**Loki POV**

Loki would think he would be used to this rage, this sense of worry in his mind; after being around Thor, who had been mortally wounded countless times, and the tragedy of what happened to his mother, he should be used to it.

Perhaps he was, in a way. Perhaps that is what made him do the unthinkable.

Or perhaps, Heimdall and Odin were watching.

Either way, Loki knew he could not have broken free of his magical bindings if Louie had not been mortally wounded.  
The skin on his back where the seal was burned white hot, but Loki barely noticed because he was screaming, and then, he was disappearing. He reappeared cradling Louie in his arms, and the girl was whimpering, her eyes blinking blearily. They clouded over, a milky white that made Loki think of poisons and pain, and he was even more terrified than he ever thought was possible.

The team around him was talking all at once, but he was not paying attention.

_Louie, Louie, Louie._

"She is fading, and fast," said Thor, "we should-"

"Home," Loki cut across his brother, "I'm taking her home." He looked to Hulk, who was eyeing him warily, probably sensing his rediscovered powers.

"It's too far," said the Captain, "maybe a hospital-,"

"Home," he snarled, and pressed his hand against Louie's stomach a little harder. Louie groaned, gurgling. Loki winced, pressing his lips to her forehead in apology. This was not productive. He needed space, he needed time to concentrate and heal.

"Banner," he said, looking at the green giant once more, "I need you, too." Hulk placed a large hand on his shoulder, his weight barely shifting Loki, now that he was back at his full potential. It was odd though, that the return of his magic did not appeal to him the way borrowing Louie's energy had. Loki shared a glance with his brother before he concentrated for a moment, fixing his memory on the white walls of the Stark Tower infirmary, and disappeared.

They reappeared in the infirmary, and Jarvis was already on high alert.

"Sir, I must have you know, I have warned the others of your return to your height of prowess."

"Fine," he said distractedly, "it does not matter – it does not-"

Hulk was gone, and Bruce was dancing out of ripped clothes and into new ones.

"Get her on the bed," the doctor said, and his calm demeanour settled Loki's mind for a moment.

Louie was whimpering again, and Loki swallowed. Suddenly, she went stiff, her eyes rolling into her head.

"She's going into shock. Loki, I need you to help me," Bruce was already attaching the IV drop to her limp body. "You remember what I taught you about dealing with seizures?" Loki nodded, and heaved the girl so she was on her side, and Bruce was handing him something to stick in her mouth, to prevent her from biting her tongue off. Loki stroked her hair as she convulsed in his arms.

"You will be fine," he muttered, "you will be fine." _For my sake._

He didn't think he could bear it if anything happened to her.

Loki had seen tragedy and torture like no other. Loki knew what true fear was, and yet, even though he had thought he had seen it all, had felt it all, this kind of fright still left him so shaken, so raw he would have winced if someone poked him with the flat end of a pen.

It was several hours later that Louie was stable, due to the combined efforts of Bruce, Loki and the occasional help from Tony. The team had been only ten minutes behind them, but Bruce assured everyone that had they been a second later, they might have been flying over the city when Louie went into shock.

Now, a tense air filled the upper floors of Stark Tower. The Avengers were listless, or stiff, or pacing around, and Pepper, Jane and Darcy had taken to sitting watch in the young woman's room, next to a tensely wound up demigod.

She was pale against the sheets, Loki noted. Deathly.

He shuddered at the very thought of the word.

As the minutes ticked by, the very gravity of what Louie had done settled down among the inhabitants of the Tower. What she had done – that uncontrollable power, that rage - that was exactly what Fury had been warning them against.

She almost burned a man's face off, and had no recollection of it afterwards. Something about the girl had turned dark, and dangerous and worst of all, Loki had felt it, and so had Thor, which meant Odin had felt it too. His newfound freedom was evidence enough; someone in Asgard saw a bigger threat than he in the vicinity, and had given him back his abilities to assist Thor in securing this dangerous object. Loki wanted to weep. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. He was the wreck, not Louie. Louie was not the one who should be under suspicious. He stroked her dark, messy waves, and traced a bluish vein down her arm. Her breathing was shallow and her stomach was bound tightly. Blood dripped into her to replace what she had lost.

"Loki," Bruce said at his shoulder. Loki turned mutely, acknowledging the doctor's presence. There was no one else in the room, the others having slunk away. Bruce sat down at Louie's side as well, his brown eyes drifting sadly over the girl's prone figure.

"I don't understand what's happening," he said quietly. "She's not supposed to be this ill. She should have healed hours ago. Has her magic faded away?" Loki shook his head.

"No. It is there. Which is why I cannot understand why this is happening," Loki gritted his teeth.

"It's like she's in limbo," Bruce murmured, "she isn't losing any more blood, but it doesn't look like she's gaining any more either. I don't get it, I've supplied her with over a pint now, and her face should pick up colour..." Bruce's voice faded into the background as everything around Loki stilled.

_Loki..._

Loki inhaled sharply. He hadn't heard that voice since it passed judgement at his trial.

_Her father... _

_You seek her father... _

_How do you know this?_ he asked, his heart beating rapidly. Louie never spoke of her father, only abundantly of her mother. Loki had learned almost as soon as she had, that fathers were not a topic of discussion. And yet, her mind seemed to be on him constantly these past few days. He cast his mind to the man he had seen in Louie's dreams. The stranger that haunted her nights that she forgot about in the mornings, because humans were too young to know how to retain everything they saw in their nightmares. Which was for the best, if you thought back on it; they were too easily hurt, and too easily terrorised.

_Bring the girl to us, but you must find her kin..._

"Why?" he asked loudly, and Bruce jumped.

"What?" the doctor asked, bewildered, "why, what?"

"Odin," Loki said, his heart still hammering in his chest. "Odin spoke to me." He rose, striding out the door, Bruce on his heels.

"Thor! _Thor!_"

"I heard," his brother replied, meeting him halfway.

"What did he mean, bring her to him?"

"Maybe he will help her," Thor replied doubtfully. He must be recalling the manner in which Odin first treated Jane – the disdain her had for the mortal and her apparently human illness. And yet, here he was, demanding Louie to be brought to Asgard.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on?" Bruce demanded.

"Odin believes Louie's father might know how to save the girl," said Loki. "Thor, I need – We need –"

"Heimdall," Thor nodded, "we need Heimdall."

"We have to go back to Asgard," whispered Loki. His stomach churned at the thought. Back in Asgard. Back in shackles.

"And Louie?" Bruce asked. The rest of the team slowly floated toward them, their faces all speaking of the same worry. Loki stared at Thor, his gaze hard and unyielding.

"I do not think she could ever be able to travel the Bifrost," Loki said, "she is far too weak." There would be hell to pay for such disobedience, but Loki did not care. He was not going to risk moving her without some sort of assurance of her safety. Thor nodded slightly, and Loki uncoiled his tense muscles. His brother was with him. For a while, that would keep him safe.

"Then she'll stay here," Steve was back in charge, slipping back into the role of authority with ease. Now that they had direction, there was no reason for dalliance. Loki was grateful for the leadership the Captain assumed. It meant he did not have to worry about plans, as was the case with Thor and his friends. Loki was free to worry about Louie.

Already he was too scared to have left her side. What if she went into a critical state again, while he was away? What then?

"There is another matter we must consider, if we are leaving Louie behind," Thor said quietly. "Loki is under her charge. Loki cannot return to Asgard without his guardian..."

"Well, that one is easy," said Tony, sauntering forward, "Louie is my secretary, placing her as _my_ charge. By default, that means Loki is under my protection and care." Under different circumstances, Loki may have groaned, and Pepper may have uttered something about the end of the world being nigh, but as it were, Loki just nodded at the billionaire in thanks.

"It is settled then," rumbled Thor, drawing himself up to his full and impressive height. "I, Loki and Tony will travel to Asgard and find Louie's father."

"How long do we have, Brucie?"asked Tony. Bruce hesitated, his eyes falling on Loki before he replied.

"If she doesn't stop rejecting the blood we're giving her," he said slowly, "not long at all."

* * *

Loki visited Louie one last time, after all preparations to depart had been made. Natasha and Clint reported back to SHIELD headquarters, to put out another BOLO on Slasher and Quincy. Bruce set up the infirmary as something akin to a battle frontier emergency unit, with Darcy and Steve on hand to help in case anything went wrong.

Jane would be manning communications, because she was the most experienced of those who would stay with the workings of the Bifrost, and Tony was fixing up not one, but two new suits for his second trip to the other world. The entire Tower was stirring, like a brewing storm on the horizon.

Loki threaded his long fingers through Louie's limp ones, and bent down to kiss her forehead.

"I wish," he breathed, "you could see how much they love you." _How much I love you._ Too late, he thought bitterly, I am always too late.

The urge to crumple and curl up against her was overwhelming. He pressed another kiss to her face, and another, and another. One to her nose, to her cheek, her mouth. He shook with the effort to compose himself.

He stayed that way until his brother came for him, until he felt Thor steering him away.

It was a terrible feeling of - what had Tony called it? - _de ja vu_ as they rode the glass elevator to the roof. Only this time, Louie was not coming with him.

* * *

**A/N:** There you have it, folks!

Please let me know what you think, by leaving a review! Feel free to also throw objects at my head for leaving you with a cliffie for so long. Apologies for any typos - if you notice any of those too, let me know, I've been working on this for four hours straight now xD

Anyway,

Until next time, my duckies,

Much love,

xoxo


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